Migration scourge haunts hill state

Neena Sharma

A report by the NITI Aayog hailing the development strides taken by the state in the past 10 years have buoyed the government and the people of the state that marked its 17th anniversary on November 9.

However, the state continues to present a bundle of contradictions. While it has been ranked fourth on social indicators by the Aayog, the scourge of migration due to poor health facilities and poor job avenues continues to force the people to leave their villages in large numbers.

The 2011 Census reported a population decline in Pauri and Almora districts. Since the creation of the state in 2000, migration has been the maximum from villages in these districts. Around 968 villages have been abandoned so far and with no steps having been initiated by the government, these are now termed as “ghost villages”.

The issue came up for discussion at the recently concluded seminar held to mark the state’s foundation day. “The participants discussed the issue of migration. Several villages in the districts of Almora and Pauri have been deserted. We will try to include suggestions made during the seminar in the state’s blue print,” Chief Minister TS Rawat said.

In more than 1,000 villages, the population is only around 100. In Pauri district, 331 villages are bereft of people and in Almora 105 villages have been deserted. What remains in these villages now are ruins of houses and termite hills. The problem seems to have reached the plains as well. In Haridwar district, around 94 villages have been abandoned, in Nainital 44, in Dehradun 17 and in Udham Singh Nagar 14.

Expectations from new Chief Secretary

With the senior bureaucrat Utpal Kumar Singh posted as the Chief Secretary, expectations have been high from him to deliver. Tenure of former Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy allegedly saw very slow movement of files.

To decentralise things, Utpal has divested Additional Chief Secretary Om Prakash of the responsibilities of Department of Medical and Health. 

With the saffron party ruling Uttarakhand, a particular class of bureaucrats, allegedly known to have links with leaders of an ideological organisation, have been in favour with the state government.

Selfie attendance for teachers

From day one, Education Minister Arvind Pandey has been coming up with one directive after another, aimed at disciplining government schoolteachers.  Recently, he announced an innovative method to keep a check on teachers. “To curb absentism, we have developed an App, through which teachers would be asked to compulsorily post their selfies as soon as they enter classrooms and also post selfies after the school gets over,” Pandey said.

The authorities, however, seem to have overlooked the previous direction that the teachers are not allowed to use phones on school premises.