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Of exodus to cities & shattered dreams
When Bhagwan Singh Negi, hailing from a tiny village of Koti in Tehri, left for Delhi in search of a job in 2005, he had dreams to fulfill.
He had heard that the metropolitan city offered jobs to anyone who cared. Job in hand, he dreamt of buying more pungra (fields), replacing the temporary roof of his house with a cement sheet and buying a buffalo for his mother. But little did he know about the harsh realities he was to encounter there. He soon realised that lack of education was a major hindrance in his getting a good employment. After a month of job hunting, he thought of going back to his village. However, there was no point in doing so as that would have meant a life of deprivation and despair, and dreams unmet. So he ended up working in a roadside dhaba for a paltry salary of Rs 2,000 per month. Three years on, he is still working in that dhaba and sends his meagre savings back home. This is not only the story of one Negi, but lakhs of youths who live in the hills in poverty without any source of livelihood. In despair, they are left with no other option but to migrate to cities. “I have both my sons working in Dehradun. In fact, most young people of our village leave for cities to lead a decent life. What would they do here in poverty? At least there they have jobs,” says Rattan Bhandari, a resident of Koti village. According to the 2001 Census, there are more than 4.5 lakh unemployed youth in Uttarakhand. The number of registered unemployed youth stands at 31.97 per cent. The number of jobs created in the past five years has barely crossed 4 per cent of the total number of registered unemployed youth. Uttarakhand is primarily a mountainous state with only 10 per cent of its total geographical area in the plains. More than three-fourth (78 per cent) of its total population is dependent on hill farming for livelihood. Agriculture is done in scattered pieces of land and the gross cropped area is only about 10 per cent of the area of the state. The soil in mountainous regions is shallow and not too fertile. Thus, the produce is almost negligible, just good enough for personal consumption. “Almost half of the families in the state, mostly in hills, live below the poverty line, which is alarming. With excessive reliance on subsistence agriculture, the problem is further compounded,” says J.B. Pant, an economist who was once involved in block-level developmental programmes. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that a study reveals that over 60 per cent of Uttarakhand families have at least one member earning a livelihood away from home. In a recent survey of Garhwali soldiers active at the Kargil front, 80 per cent claimed they had joined the armed forces to escape poverty at home. The state government must form broad-based policies concentrating on a few specific sectors that have growth potential in these backward areas. The first state finance commission report emphasises on encouraging farmers in the hill regions to shift from cultivation of cereals to horticultural products as these have the potential to become engines of growth. The other focus it suggests is tourism. “A comprehensive Industrial Incentive Scheme 2008 has been declared for promotion of industry in the hilly and remote areas. Under the scheme, infrastructure development, subsidy on capital investment and interest payment, etc have been provided,” says Manvender Singh Rana, district development officer, Dehradun. “Attention has been paid to bring gradual changes in the traditional fields of horticulture, agriculture, animal husbandry and dairy development to make these more income and employment-oriented. “Hydro-power and tourism are also in focus,” adds Rana. The state government has formed the village development department to act as a nodal agency for implementation of developmental projects. The Indira Housing Scheme, the Complete Village Employment Scheme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna are some of the few schemes that the government has implemented for socio-economic development of the hills. The B.C. Khanduri government aims to promote an “inclusive growth” strategy during the Eleventh Five- Year Plan so that the benefits of growth are spread to all sections of the population and geographical regions. “Despite numerous plans, projects, and schemes that have been envisaged for the hills, growth eludes people residing here, especially the youth, who are desperate for opportunities. Development of infrastructure remain a bottleneck,” points out Pant. A major portion of productive population is in rural Uttarakhand, a clear indicator of the dire need for inclusive growth. If the young are not provided with job opportunities, unabated migration would be hard to halt.
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Another family waits for its missing son
Dehradun, November 18 While there are celebrations in the house of Captain Parbhat Goyal on his safe return from captivity at the hands of Somalian pirates, another woman not far from the Goyal household is in despair. "The government and the country seems to have forgotten the 25 missing persons, including my son Pankaj, second officer on MV Rezzak that went missing in the Black Sea off the coast of Bartin, a port in Turkey, on February 18," she says in a feeble voice. It has been an agonising wait for the family members of Pankaj and 24 other crew members. Besides Pankaj, Dalbir from Paonta Sahib and others from Mumbai and Orrisa were on the crew of Rezzek, which suddenly went missing on
February 18. The family members are angry that the Union Government did not act fast enough to trace the
crew members. Raj Tyagi says so far there have been mere assurances from the Prime Minister, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and other government
authorities. "We have been told by the PMO that investigations are on and as and when any breakthrough is made, we will be intimated," said
Raj Tyagi. The Tyagi family fears that the ship has been hijacked by the powerful Russian mafia in connivance with the shipping company. "The cell phone of one of the crew members rang on February 28 and one of the missing persons, Pritam Singh, said ‘hello’ before disconnecting. “Moreover, an SMS message was received on one of the crew members phone. If the ship with the crew was drowned, how then did Pritam Singh pick up the phone," pointed out Pankaj's mother. "A day after the reported disappearance of the ship, the shipping company filed the insurance claim. We are constantly being approached by some Vishwas, a shipping agent from Mumbai, who is asking us to sign some documents and accept the claim. “The Pelican people who employed my son are not clean and the government should act fast to take action against this recruiting company," said Pankaj's father K.K.Tyagi, speaking from New Delhi. He is in regular touch with Indian embassy officials in Turkey.
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Flashback
Dehradun: I must have been 25 when I first met Indira Gandhi. I was then a stringer for The Tribune and two other English dailies published from New Delhi. Two years before, I had also launched Vanguard, an English weekly in partnership with a classmate, Jitender Nath.
However, it was not as a journalist that I first met Indira Gandhi. She often accompanied Nehru whenever he visited Dehradun. I would meet Nehru more as a young admirer than a newsman. Indira generally remained in the background, and did not appear at Nehru's engagements unless required. How I first met Indira Gandhi is an interesting story. My sister, Neel Kamal, five years my senior, was a great fan of Indira. One day she announced that she wanted to give her a birthday present. "She won't even meet us, leave alone accept a present, " I insisted but she remained adamant. “She will meet us and she will also accept the present", my sister said firmly. "I will write her a letter - oh, no, rather you will write her a letter on my behalf, expressing our ardent desire to wish her on her birthday in Dehradun. "And she will definitely visit the town on that day to be with her sons, Rajiv and Sanjay,", she declared with an air of confidence. Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi were then in Doon School. I wasn't sure if Indira, on a private visit, would find time to meet us. Nevertheless, I typed out a letter to her and my sister signed it. And within a week, we received a reply to the delight of my sister. "Didn't I tell you that she will meet us," she said triumphantly.
Knitting a gift
November 19 was a week away, when I asked my sister what the birthday gift would be. "I will knit her a blouse", she replied. I didn't need to ask any more for I knew that my sister was a great one with knitting needles. Came the appointed day, my sister and I cycled all the way from our Curzon Road residence to the Circuit House, a distance that we then covered in 15 minutes. Ram Prasad was the Man Friday in the Circuit House. "Indiraji has gone to the Doon School," he said. He had obviously guessed that we had come to see her. We turned our bicycles, and headed towards the school, about a kilometre away. We reached the Kashmir House where the Gandhi The house master, K. C. Joshi, greeted us outside on the lawn. "Kanwar, you are late by 10 minutes. Mrs Gandhi and her sons had gone to Kwality”. We again turned our bicycles towards Bindal Bridge, and thence to the Clock Tower en route to Kwality. There, assistant manager Mehra pointed out to where the VIP guests were seated. Indiraji knew me by face, and looked inquiringly at us as we approached the table. I was nervous, and blurted out: "Happy birthday, Indiraji". My sister too wished her. Then I briefly introduced ourselves. Indira evinced some interest when I said my sister was an Indian Red Cross Welfare Officer attached to the local Military Hospital. We were invited to be seated. Then my sister took out the knitted beige blouse, and presented it to Indiraji. “ I don't accept gifts." I came to my sister's rescue, and told her how she had specially knitted it for her. Then she looked at my sister and asked "How did you know my size?" "I just guessed it from your pictures," was my sister's nervous reply. All this while, Rajiv and Sanjay did not show any interest in our conversation and kept eating their ice cream. Eventually, Indiraji asked us what we would have. We settled for tea. As we sipped tea, Gandhi graciously accepted my sister's gift. She introduced me as a "local journalist" to her sons who nodded somewhat indifferently. I felt uncomfortable and unwelcome and hurriedly finished my tea as my sister and Indiraji talked about knitting. Subsequently, I must have met Indira on several occasions whenever she visited Dehradun, and did a few stories on her. My personal relationship with Indira did not go beyond niceties and remained limited to the confines of Dehradun's Circuit House. Indira's visits to Dehradun became rare after she was anointed Congress President in 1959. Both Rajiv and Sanjay bid goodbye to the Doon School in 1960. Indira continued to accompany Pandit Nehru to Dehradun. She was also with him on his last visit here on May 26, 1964. India's first Prime Minister died the following day at his Teen Murti Road house in New Delhi. But Indira's links with Dehradun continued, thanks to Mata Anandmayee. She had became her disciple. This was more so after Sanjay's death. My sister is no longer in this world. It was with her when I first wished Indira Gandhi on her birthday. Today, I am alone and pay the departed leader my tributes. May her soul
rest in peace.
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Forest institute gets tourist-friendly
Dehradun, November 18 An impressive edifice of the Greco Ramona and oriental architecture, the main building of the institute is spread over a plinth area of 2.5 hectares. It was constructed way back in 1929. Apart from architectural beauty, it houses some of the finest silviculture -- timber, non-wood forest products, pathology and entomology museums. Lack of professional guides and almost no conveyance arrangements for tourists inside the campus was a big hassle for the visitors. Also, most lacked knowledge of the exhibits. With the institute now in the tourism mode, these guides will help visitors understand the exhibits at the museums in a much better way. The services of retired employees have been sought for the purpose. These guides will undergo a two- week training, where they will be told about the institute and the exhibits at the museum, as in also social etiquettes. “ The guides will be available for tourists at the gates of the institute”, Dr SS Negi, director institute said. In order to check fleecing, the guides will be charging fee from visitors as per the rates fixed by the institute. Further, to facilitate tourist movement, connectivity inside the sprawling 500-hectare campus is also being strengthened. The institute will be introducing eco-friendly autorickshaw or even cycle rickshaw as means of transport. “These rickshaws will ferry visitors from Trevor Gate and Kaulagarh Gate to the main FRI building which houses the museums”, said Dr Negi. Apart from domestic tourists, foireign visitors also visit the institute. In order to develop an interest in forestry in school students, the institute encourages them to visit its museums on occasions such as science day or foundation day.
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Mahesh Bhatt ‘s aim, edutainment
Dehradun, November 18 We are talking about Mahesh Bhatt, a young filmmaker from Garhwal, who has achieved great success in making the masses aware of important social and environment issues with his short entertainment films. Unlike routine documentaries, which hardly find any takers, Bhatt has added entertainment and colour to his films. “We have clubbed education with entertainment to make edutainment films. And the response we have had is tremendous,” says Bhatt. Bhatt believes that in order to convey the message through films, it is important that films should be region-specific. “If a film on women empowerment is made in Madhya Pradesh, people here in Garhwal won’t correlate with it. Hence, we emphasise on making region-specific films”, he said. Bhatt started his journey as filmmaker some 15 years back, when he made “Maiti”, a film on environment conservation. Since then, Bhatt has never looked back. Some two years back, Bhatt started making films on social issues, with a dose of songs, emotions and romance. Bhatt’s film - “Call From The Valley”, a short documentary on spreading awareness regarding solid waste management in the Valley of Flowers, Chamoli, got a good response. Thereafter, Piysuh Rautela, director of the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, Uttarakhand, hired Bhatt to make a film on the dangers of earthquake and the all-important message to build earthquake-resistant houses, particularly in the hills. The state of Uttarakhand seismically falls under Zone IV and V. Bhatt could have made a documentary with no appeal for the masses. But, Rautela and Bhatt decided to make an entertainment film with songs, dance, romance, emotions and suspense to effectively convey the message of the film. Finally, “Dandi Kanthi Ki Goad Maa”, a Garhwal-Kumaon film, was made with a storyline, where the hero of the film, a skiing instructor with dreams of becoming a world-class instructor, wants to give all comforts to his widowed mother living in the hills. With a fair sprinkling of romance, the four Garhwal songs rendered by prominent Garhwali singers, Kishan Mahipal, Deepa, Sangeeta Daundiyal and Manu Vandana, add colour to the film. The hero of the film builds a house for his mother but ignores earthquake-resistant techniques. An earthquake devastates his life as his mother gets killed as the new house collapses. “We took the CDs of the film to remote villages and have seen people crying after viewing the film,” said Bhatt. Bhatt’s another film “Nanda Ki Paheli Jat” on girl- child and women empowerment was also successful.
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Letter
Employees of the state have been agitating for implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission for long. The Chief Minister has done little on the matter except for giving assurances time to time.
With global meltdown and rise in the cost of living, it is only natural that the employees, who pay their taxes regularly, are given their due. It is a matter of shame that they are forced to resort to agitation to be heard. Agitations hamper work in offices, putting the common man to inconvenience. But does anyone really care about the common man? It seems the people have been reduced to mere vote banks and are given relief if and when it suits the rulers. Anything for a vote, nothing for the ordinary citizen. Your paper needs to give more coverage to people’s problems as it claims to be the voice of the people. I look forward to more reports on people’s problems. Mere reports on utterances of ministers and bureaucrats are of no use. Manvendra
Rana, Roorkee
Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words at dehradunplus@tribunemail.com or write in at:
Letters, Dehradun Plus, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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