PALAYAN – Ek Chinta

Why are people migrating from Uttarakhand? 

The main reasons for migrating, in order of importance, are desire for better livelihood, employment, education and medical facilities

Together, these three reasons account for almost three-fourths of the reasons for migrating at the state level. In individual districts search for better livelihood/ employment remains the most important reason with its share ranging between 41 and 76 per cent.

Other reasons include decline in fertility of land or reduction in agricultural production, or following the footsteps of relatives, acquaintances who have migrated and ‘sundry’ reasons. The share of the last-mentioned reason is as high as 24 per cent in Bageshwar, 19 per cent in Uttarkashi and 18 per cent in Dehradun.

Desire for better livelihood and employment opportunities remains the dominant reason for migration ranging between 41 and 77 per cent in individual districts and 50 per cent in the State as a whole.

In the case of Almora and Pauri Garhwal the largest percentage of migrants, 47 and 34 respectively, have gone outside the state. One possible reason for this may be that these two districts have a fairly long history of migration, longer than other districts. As such people have been venturing out to different places spread across the northern region as well as metros like Delhi and Mumbai. Consequently, networks of relatives, friends and acquaintances would have been created in these places which may be tapped to facilitate the entry of new migrants.