Forced Out-Migration from Hill Regions and Return Migration During the Pandemic: Evidence from Uttarakhand

This paper deals with out-migration which has been a common phenomenon in the hill regions and is closely related to their socio-economic and cultural patterns. In particular, male-specific out-migration has been a sustained tradition from the hill districts of Uttarakhand. The people have been migrating not just for seeking diverse avenues of employment, but also for accessing better educational and health opportunities. As per 2011 Census, the overall population growth rate in the state was 1.7% with huge differentials in the hill and plain districts. Hill districts witnessed one-fourth growth (0.7%) of the population compared to that of plain districts (2.8%) suggestive of huge out-migration from these (hill) districts of the state. The important thing to note is that the nature and patterns of out-migration have now paved the way from long-term to permanent out-migration. Also, the lack of employment opportunities is creating distress out-migration to destinations within or outside the state, which has become a major cause of concern. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the most short-term migrants who returned to their villages in desperation resulting in despondency and distress. In this context, the paper explores the factors of distress migration by analysing the data from a quick survey of 323 return migrants carried out in June 2020 to understand their employment and livelihood profile, reasons for their return to native places, coping mechanism and future plans. The findings reveal that due to lack of livelihood opportunities in their place of origin, most of them would eventually like to return to their destination places in the future to eke out their living. From a policy point of view, enhancing the economic base and livelihood opportunities by focusing on niche activities with improved provisioning of educational and health infrastructure and services can eventually help restrict out-migration from Uttarakhand.