ANALYSIS/UTTARAKHAND
Pauri block development committee. Because of the terrain, holdings are small and each farm is located at a distance from the other. Also, farmers have to completely depend on rains because irrigation is not possible in the hills. There is also the threat of less or excessive rainfall which ruin crops.
A sample survey done by Rajendra P Mamgain, professor at the S R Sankaran Chair (rural labour), National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, is not encouraging. “In April, I spoke to over 90 migrants. Ninety per cent of them said they would prefer going back to the city because they were sure that earnings in village would not be even 50 per cent of that in the city,” he says.
Ratan Singh Aswal, coordinator of the non-profit Palayan Ek Chintan, agrees. “We visited 10 districts and found that those willing to stay are still young and unmarried. Most people have families. They do not see monetary benefit in staying back,” he says.
What the government needs to do now is include horticulture and agriculture works in MGNREGA, says Rajendra Kukasal, senior advisor (agriculture and horticulture), Uttarakhand Integrated Livelihood Support Project. “People should be guaranteed 200 days work and given `300 as daily wage. This apart, youth who do not find work for 15 days should get unemployment allowance,” he says.
Anoop Nautiyal, founder of Social Development for Communities Foundation, a Dehradun-based research organisation, says, “The government should launch schemes keeping in mind that the people of Uttarakhand feel safer in salaried jobs as they lack entrepreneurial spirit.” The government must first reassure people that self-employment can be profitable.
What’s interesting is that apart from the residents of Uttarakhand, a large number of people have started pouring in from Nepal and Bihar to do agricultural labour, says Namrata Rawat, IMI programme coordinator. Now, people have started spreading awareness so that farmers grow those crops which animals do not relish, like turmeric, ginger and cannabis. Such efforts are necessary, especially for people like Katyal who are determined to stay. “The economic downturn and the pandemic has taught us that it is not safe to work in the cities. It will take time, but I know I will succeed,” says Kaytal with his jaws clenched.