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Need to focus on pilgrimage, tourist spots: Uttarakhand migration commission
A report of the State Rural Development and Migration Commission says that at least 22,735 people have temporarily and 7,835 have permanently migrated from Rudraprayag
A report on migration in Uttarakhand’s mountain district of Rudraprayag has revealed that at least 22,735 and 7,835 people have migrated temporarily and permanently, respectively, between 2011 and 2018.
The report has found that about 10% of the district’s population had migrated from 2011 to 2018.
State Rural Development and Migration Commission (SRDMC) authorities have compiled the report, which was presented to Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who is also the chairman of the panel, on Tuesday.
“As per the 2011 census, the total population of Rudraprayag district was 2.42 lakh. In our study we found that 22,735 people living in the district had migrated temporarily from one place to another within Uttarakhand. While another 7,835 people had migrated permanently from the district to other places. About 10% of the total district population had migrated between 2011 and 2018,” said SS Negi, vice-chairman, SRDMC.
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“About 40% of the people, who were in the age group of 26-35 years, had migrated,” he added.
The report suggested various measures to curb migration, including providing livelihood opportunities to the people such as a focus on local products.
“A framework is needed to be implemented at a block level in a bid to curb migration from the district. The focus should be on pilgrimage and tourist spots in the district, which will help increase livelihood opportunities,” said Negi.
He also suggested a “women-centric plan for socio-economic development”.
He added: “A concerted effort is needed to be made to boost micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) units, ready-made garment, small agriculture and service sectors, which will help increase livelihood opportunities in Rudraprayag district. We need to increase the number of nurseries and cultivation of fruit bearing trees along with promotion of local products,” he said.
Migration from rural areas in Uttarakhand has been a discernible trend through the years.
A comparison between the 2001 and 2011 census data showed a slow decadal growth of population in most of the mountain districts of the state, according to the SRDMC.
The SRDMC data showed a positive rate of decadal increase in the population in districts such as Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Haridwar.
But in the mountain districts of Pauri, Almora, Tehri, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh, there was a negative rate of decadal increase in the population.
Uttarakhand has around 700 ghost villages and over 3.83 lakh people had left their homes in 10 years prior to 2018. Around 50% of them had left in search of livelihood, according to a report released by the SRDMC in May last year.
Uttarakhand has around 16,500 villages, of which 734, which are mostly located in mountainous areas, are deserted.
