Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS) PRM 42: (Forest Research Institute, Dehradun)

VILLAGE FIELDWORK SEGMENT (VFS)
PRM 42
A REPORT
HOST ORGANISATION
[FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DEHRADUN]
Prepared by:
SURAJ BHATT (P42163)

DHARAMPREET SINGH (P42016)
In Partial fulfillment of the requirements of the VFS
of the
PRM
INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND

December 2021
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A journey of 50 odd days that give you some new experiences, some new friends, soFor
future managers in making I feel that it’s very essential to understand the deep harsh realities of
rural life and this VFS Segment served for the same, life is not same for everyone and we rightly
understand that onus of understanding the rural life hardships lies on us and VFS helped us to
grow more in that direction.
Emotions cannot be adequately expressed in words, because then emotions will be transferred
into more formalities. Nevertheless, formalities must be completed. Our Acknowledgements are
many more than what we are expressing here.
Firstly, we would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to Institute of Rural
Management, Anand, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun and all the kind-hearted people of
Kathooli Village, Uttarakhand who welcomed and embraced us with their full arms and give us a
place in their village as well as in their hearts. They taught us real lessons of life and understand
us the literal meaning of life. In a way this journey of 50 days gave us a chance to introspect
about ourselves.
We also feel immense pleasure in expressing our deepest sense of gratitude to Prof. Saswata
Biswas, Institute of Rural Management Anand, our faculty Guide who provide constant
encouragement, guidance and support throughout our research process.
We take this opportunity to show our deep thanks to Prof. Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, Institute of
Rural Management Anand who is Chairperson of Village Field Segment to give us an
opportunity to experience the village life at grassroot level and provide his immense support and
intuiting interest throughout our research. We also like to thanks Miss Harshika Arya, for her
time to time communication and support throughout this beautiful journey.
Dr. Rajiv Pandey, Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehradun for his valuable
guidance, support and constructive criticism throughout the progress of research. We consider to
be our great fortune and honor to get an opportunity to work under him, also Mr. Rajat Panwar,
PhD scholar at Forest Research Institute who give us shelter to stay at village and provide help
during the course of work.
Contents
Page No.
Section I
• Exploratory Study of the Village
o Identification of village & household 6

o Brief history of settlement patterns 7
o Village Infrastructure
1. Street Lightning 9
2. Electricity connection 9
3. Sanitation and Drinking water 10
4. PDS 10
5. Communication and transport. 11
6. Market 11
7. Financial Institutions 11
8. Education and school 12
9. Health Facilities 16
10. Irrigation and transport Facilities 16
o Village Polity 17
o Employment 18
o Shocks 22
o Coping Mechanism 24
o Conclusion 26
Section II
• Theme Paper
o Abstract 28
o Introduction 28
o Literature Review 29
o Objective Of Research 31
o Research Question 31
o Methodology and data source 31
o Results 32-45
o Policy Suggestions 45
o Limitations 46
o Conclusion 47
o References 48
Section III
• Rural Action Component
o Introduction 50
o Purpose of study 50
o Methodology 50
o Observation 50
o Recommendations 51
o Conclusion 51
SECTION – I
OF

PRM 42 & FPRM 20
Exploratory Study of the Village
Village: Kathooli
Gram Panchayat: Kathooli
District:Tehri Garhwal
State: Uttarakhand
HOST ORGANISATION
[FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND]
Prepared by:
Faculty Guide
[Prof. Saswata Biswas]

of the
PRM/FRPM

December 2021
1) IDENTIFICATION OF VILLAGE AND HOUSE HOLD
• Tehsil- Pratap Nagar
• District- Tehri Garhwal
• Block- Jakhnidhar Community Development
• Nearest Town- Tehri (65Kms)
Figure 1-Demography of Kathooli
The study area included the villages of Kathooli and May Badel in Uttarakhand's Tehsil Pratap
Nagar and District Tehri Garhwal. The village is located between 800 and 2000 meters above sea level at
latitude 30.3960° N and longitude 78.4965° E. The village has a total population of nearly 761 people
and a land area of 225.55 hectares. There are 170 households, with 47.4 percent males and 52.5 percent
females. Children aged 0 to 6 account for approximately 11.43 percent of the population. The average
literacy rate in both Kathooli and MayBadel is 74.18 percent, with 60.78 percent of females and 74.18
percent of males being literate.
The review in both villages discovered high migration to urban communities, particularly New
Tehri, Dehradun, and Maharashtra regions, where migration is primarily done by male members of the
family and women are associated with household activities such as bringing water, gathering fodder and
fuelwood from the forests, and other farming activities.
Our observations in the village revealed that the village has three poly houses, which were
donated to the selected villagers by local non-governmental organizations and are used to grow
vegetables such as potatoes and tomatoes. The invasion of wild animals, particularly wild pigs and
monkeys, has had a significant impact on agricultural activities.
They not only destroy the vegetation here, but they are also the reason why people in the
villages have moved to other sources of income. Agriculture activities have also been hampered by the
area's unseasonal heavy rainfall.The secondary occupation includes marginal labor activities. Due to
limited opportunities, high transportation costs, and lack of connectivity to the nearby village for
essential necessities such as education, healthcare, food and water, results in high migration in the area.
Figure 2- Map of Kathooli Village, via Google Earth
2) BRIEF HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT PATTERNS:
According to senior villagers, the village of Kathooli was founded in the 1800s. The village of Kathooli
shares a panchayat with the village of May Badel. Both villages, Kathooli and May Badel, have the same
Gram Pradhan. As a result, the entire area is known as Kathooli-May Badel. According to popular belief,
during ancient times, a sage named "Madan Negi" stayed in the village for meditation and worshipping
god, and he established temples in the villages; later, after his death, the villagers established a temple
in his honor and worshipped their common god "Madan Devta."
Agriculture was the most common occupation in the 1850s. The first government school was
established in Madan Negi, which was 2 kilometers from the village, in 1972. The village's economy was
thriving as a result of good agricultural production. However, the Tehri Dam construction began in the
1980s, disrupting the entire village's agriculture occupation. Due to the submergence of Old tehri under
dam water, wild animals such as monkeys and pigs were relocated to Kathooli village, destroying the
entire agricultural production in the area.
The construction of a road connecting the village to the nearby cities begins in 1983. In 1984, a major
protest takes place in the village against the Congress government over the village's non availability of
electricity. The village was electrified in 1986.Many young boys from the village fought in the Kargil war
in 1999, and as a memorial, the government built a "Shaheed Dwaar" in the village.
The livelihood of almost every household was disrupted in the 2000s as a result of the
construction of the Tehri dam, which caused many youths to migrate from the villages in search of work.
The government began some development projects, such as the construction of handpumps and
anganwadis. A primary school was also established in the village in 2005.
The Mohan Singh Pawar NGO began development and training work in the village in 2010. They
established a Common Service Centre (CSC) in the village, where they train youths in computer skills and
young girls in stitching and tailoring. There were landslides and earthquakes in the area at times, but the
year 2017 saw a major landslide in the village that killed 5 villagers. Seeing the region's vulnerability and
the frequent migration of youths, the government declared the entire region an OBC region in 2016 to
aid the villagers.
Figure 3- Historic Timeline of Kathooli
3) VILLAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
1) STREET LIGHTING
There are only ten solar street lights in the entire village, and only eight of them work properly.
The faulty lights have yet to be repaired or replaced. This causes problems for the villagers at night, and
the village roads become riskier at night due to the lack of street lighting. When Gram Pradhan was
asked about this, he stated that he does not have any additional funds for the repair or maintenance of
these solar street lights.
Figure 3-Street Light
2) ELECTRICITY CONNECTION
Except for two mud-huts, almost all of the village households have electricity connections; they are
BPL people living in extreme poverty and cannot afford the electricity bill. The supply of electricity is not
constant. The average village receives 22-22.5 hours of electricity per day, with no set time for power
outages. The department is replacing old electric meters with modern digital meters. In most
households, solar energy is not an option.
3) SANITATION AND DRINKING WATER
Almost 90% of households have built-in sanitation facilities. Aside from that, the panchayats built
two toilets and two bathrooms (snaan-ghar). These are both in good working order. The remaining 10%
of villagers are from mud households and continue to practice open defecation in the forest. The
villagers' lack of access to clean water remains a problem. There are taps, but there is a water shortage,
so villagers usually carry water from a common point known as "Gadhera," which is 10-15 minutes
walking distance from their homes.
For drinking water, the villagers rely on either a gadhera or a handpump, whichever is closest.
Figure 4- Gadhera Figure 5-Handpump
4) PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Within the village, there is one PDS store, which is located near the village's main road and usually
opens in the last week of the month for ration distribution. There are 2 types of cards are-
• Yellow card- Above Poverty Line households

• White Card- Below Poverty Line households
5) COMMUNICATION & TRANSPORTATION
There is no Post Office in the village. The nearest post office is in Madan Negi, which is about 2
kilometers from the village. Every household has a mobile phone for communication, despite the fact
that network coverage in the village is limited. The major networks available in the village are JIO and
AIRTEL.
6) MARKET
Madan Negi (2km away) has a nearby market with approximately 25-30 shops ranging from
kirana, local dhaba, medical store, ironsmith, mechanic, and cloth shops.
Following that, the nearest large market is in Rajakhet (6 kilometers away), which has approximately 50-
60 shops. Villagers mostly commute to Madan Negi for basic needs and to Rajakhet village for larger
purchases.
Figure 6-Nearby Market, Rajakhet
7) FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Within its own borders, the village of Kathooli lacks a bank or other financial institution. The nearest
bank (Union Bank) is located in the village of Madan Negi, about 2.5 kilometers away. A Punjab National
Bank branch is also located in the village of Rajakhet, around 6 kilometers from Kathooli.According to a
poll performed in hamlet Kathooli, the percentage of persons who have ever taken out a loan from a
formal institution such as a bank is nearly nil. This can also be attributed to the village's low agrarian
crisis, which is a result of the village's limited agricultural techniques.
As previously indicated, a Punjab National Bank branch with the name "Rajakhet Distt Tehri" is
located in Rajakhet with the branch name “Rajakhet Distt Tehri Punjab National Bank”. The branch
operates from 10 am to 4 pm from Monday to Saturday. The Union Bank branch located in Madan Negi
operates under the branch name “Madan Negi Distt Union Bank of India” and in the same operating
hours.
Figure 7- Bank
Cost and Use of services- Opportunity cost is one of the most significant costs borne by the villagers,
particularly while travelling to the Punjab National Bank branch. The branch is 6 kilometers from
Kathooli, and due to the lack of frequent transportation, it takes a long time to get there. The people are
also financially illiterate; thus, transactions take a long time for them to complete. There are no ATM
machines in Kathooli, therefore inhabitants must drive to Madan Negi to obtain cash. The pensions of
the village's retired personnel are also deposited into their respective bank accounts. The benefits
received from various government initiatives are also deposited in bank accounts.
Remoteness of Financial Institutions- The branch of Union Bank of India, Madan Negi is situated at around
2.5 KM from Kathooli while that of Punjab National Bank, Rajakhet is at 6 KM.
Rate of Interest- The following table represents the rate of interest in the two branches: -
Name of Bank Rate of Deposit Rate of Interest

Punjab National Bank, Rajakhet 6.25 7.5
Union Bank of India, Madan Negi 6.00 7.25
8) EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS: -
85% of the children in Kathooli are studying in the two public schools-Rajkiya Inter College, Madan
Negi and Primary Model School, Madan Negi. The remaining 15 % are obtaining online distance learning
from the private schools of nearby districts like Tehri Garhwal.Also, these 15 % also includes the
students who have completed their education upto intermediate from these public schools and then
opted for online correspondence courses like B.A and B.Com. The majority of them were females who
can strike a balance between their education and domestic work by preferring these correspondence
courses
As of today, there is only one school in Kathooli village which is operating only for classes 6th, 7th
and 8th. With the school lacking basic amenities and infrastructure, the current status of education in
this school is not very appealing. The situation has worsened to a level that the number of admitted
students in the school is only 15. The rest of the children of Kathooli go to a primary model school of
Madan Negi or Rajkiya inter college of the village of Madan Negi. The facilities here are much better as
compared to the above two mentioned schools. 80 % of the children of Kathooli are attending schools in
Hybrid Mode whereas 20 % are receiving distance and correspondence education in exclusively online
mode
The students of Kathooli village are more inclined towards Arts stream as compared to Science.
Most of the students opt for Hotel Management courses after completing their intermediate education
and hence are less inclined towards science. Also, there is less awareness in the village regarding the
medical and engineering competitive examinations. The majority of the children completed their
education up to intermediate level after which the dropout rate became significantly high owing to
lesser affordability to pursue expensive courses like graduation.The dropout rate has been significantly
increasing over the years owing to different reasons like engagement in domestic activities (majorly
including girls), engagement in financial services (majorly including boys), marriage and others.
Figure 8-School
Primary Model School:-
The school is situated at a distance of 2.3 kms from village Kathooli. The mode of communication is
Hindi. Owing to the COVID 19 situation, the school is currently operating on hybrid mode with classes
and examinations getting conducted on online and offline mode respectively.
Strength of students and teacher:-
The total strength in the school is of 60 students, out of which 27 are males and 33 are females. There
are a total of 5 teachers, all of them appointed on a permanent basis. The number of male and female
teachers are 3 and 2 respectively. There are separate faculty members for English, Mathematics,
Environmental Studies, Science and Sanskrit respectively while Hindi is being taught by the principal
herself.
Infrastructure:-
There are a total of 5 classrooms, all of them being in good condition. The school is operating for classes
1st to 5th. There is a separate dedicated playground for sports activities, the gathering in the same being
prohibited owing to Covid-19. The school lacks a library and a computer lab and an absence of
infrastructure for the virtual classroom segment. There are a total of 4 washrooms out of which only 3
are in a usable condition.
Sanitation and Drinking water:-

With no RO purifier installed, the school is facing problems with clean drinking water. There are a total
of 4 washrooms out of which only 3 are in a usable condition.The education is free for all the students of
all administrative categories. Before Covid-19, the school used to provide books to the students but
during Covid-19, the school started transferring the necessary amount equal to the worth of the books
in the bank accounts of parents, entrusting them with the responsibility to buy.
Rajkiya Inter College, Madan Negi: -
The college is situated at a distance of around 2 kms from Kathooli. There are no suitable transport
facilities for the children because of which they have to travel to the college by foot. The mode of
communication is Hindi. The college is operating from classes 6th to 12th and the available streams for
classes 11th and 12th are Science and Arts.
Strength of students and teachers:-
The total strength is 210 students out of which 63 are from general category, 100 from OBC and 47 from
SC/ST. The school has a sex ratio of 1:1 i.e. having exactly 105 males and 105 females. The numbers of
students of ARTS stream are 25 and 16 in classes 11th and 12th respectively while those in SCIENCE
stream are 14 and 15.The total numbers of teachers in the college are 16 out of which 13 are contracted
on permanent basis while the rest 3 are on temporary basis. The number of male and female teachers
are 10 and 6 respectively. The most important role of the principal is fulfilled by one of the teachers.
Infrastructure:-
There are a total of 13 classrooms out of which 4 are in a very poor condition infrastructure wise while
the rest 9 are in a relatively good condition. There is a library currently having 600 + books. There is a
well-built computer lab having a total of 10 computers. Because of the lack of space, the virtual
classroom segment is also installed within the computer lab itself. The college is also having a separate
dedicated playground for sports activities.
Sanitation and Drinking water:-
The college used to face problems of clean drinking water but the same was solved recently with the
installation of a RO purifier. There are separate washrooms for boys and girls.
Mid-day meal:-
Mid-day meals are provided in the college for classes 6th to 8th. A total of 4 people is given the
responsibility to look after the maintenance of the college and mid-day meals.
9) HEALTH FACILITIES
The village's health-care services are in despair. There are no health care facilities in the hamlet,
except for a pharmacy that sells medications for common disorders. There used to be a sub-centre in
the settlement but it closed down decades ago. Villagers have to go to the nearest block headquarter
Madan Negi to receive basic medical care. There is a fully operational government hospital 3 kilometres
from the settlement with a multi-bed facility that cares for various patients every day. However, due to
shortage of lab technicians, it lacks basic diagnostic facilities such as blood tests and X-ray. For critical
illnesses, residents must go to the nearest town, New Tehri, which is around 65 kilometres away.
The visits of healthcare officials are an unusual occurrence in the community. The visit is limited to polio
immunizations for children and Corona vaccination for just a few months throughout the year. In
addition to this, Anganwadi personnel help with the immunisation programme
The majority of the women go to private clinics for pre-natal and post-natal treatment. If the family is
low-income, they will proceed to the nearest government hospital in the block headquarters. Most
households who choose private clinics over government facilities claim better treatment, faster service,
and referrals from relatives and friends as reasons.
10) IRRIGATION AND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
The transportation facilities in the village are a big concern owing to the sloppy nature of the roads
and lack of these facilities worsens the condition. Children have to travel close to 2.5 kilo meters on foot
to attend the nearest school in the nearby village. Women have to walk on this sloppy terrain to collect
fuel wood for cooking and fodder for the livestock. Apart from the educational institution, the banks,
agricultural market, block headquarters, ATMs etc. were located in Rajakhet and May Badel which were
located at a distance of 6 kilometers and 2.5 kilo meters from Kathooli. Infrequent transportation caused
a major hurdle in availing these facilities. It offered a challenge to us as well in arranging transportation
to reach these villages and collect information. A few people in the village are running private taxi service
which somehow improves the situation. However, even those are not affordable for everyone owing to
the poor economic status of the villagers.
There is an absence of a proper water channel in the village owing to which 70 % of the agricultural land
is unirrigated. Only the portion of the land which is close to the water sources like Gadhera and river
streams is irrigated land which is close to 30 %..
VILLAGE POLITY
Our village is spread across the mountain. There is only one main road in the village which divide the
village into 2 regions. The households are very close to one another with walls attached. One can easily
go to another house via terrace.The 2 regions of the village are:
1) Upper region
2) Lower region
Upper region
The upper region of the village is occupied by the General Caste. Caste like Brahmins, Rawat, Negi,
Pawar, Nautiyal, Bisht etc. can be found in this region.
No. of total households – 83
No. of Brick houses- 20
No. of semipakka houses- 13
No. of kaccha houses- 4
No. of multi storied houses- 46
Mix of occupation of people from agriculture, kirana shops, service sector can be seen. Most of the
people survive on the remuneration sent by the migrated family member.
Lower region
The lower region of the village is occupied by the lower castes (SCs/STs). Major castes found are: Dom,
Sahariya, Shauka, Karwal, Kapariya, Dhusia, Dhangar etc.
The SCs constitute approx. 45% of the total population of the village.
No. of total households – 46
No. of Brick houses- 4
No. of semipakka houses- 24
No. of kaccha houses- 10
No. of multi storied houses- 8
In this location, most residents rely on the compensation of migrating members, with some working as
daily labourers or in hotel services.There is no religious segregation in the village because it is entirely
composed of Hindus.The village roadways are all pucca roads. Almost all households have land holdings,
with higher region villagers having greater holdings (2-5 Acre) and lower area villagers having smaller
holdings (0.5-1 Acre). However, because of crop failure caused by wild animals, several people have
chosen Oregano growing on their plots as an alternative.
Figure 9-Lower Region Figure 10- Upper Region
EMPLOYMENT
Prior to the building of Tehri Dam, the agriculture of Kathooli Village was the main source of
employment for locals, since residents used to farm important commercial crops such as wheat,
rice, and other vegetables such as okra, eggplant, and so on. It was their words that they used to
buy only salt from outside, the rest they got from their agriculture, but the long-overdue
development of the area caused havoc to the village, the construction dam resulted in the entry of
wild animals like monkeys and pigs whose habitation was destroyed with the dam construction
so they chose the way of Kathooli Local in quest of habitation, and in search of food, they
assaulted the crops planted by the village farmers and destroyed them, causing great economic
losses to the farmers of the village. Following that, in pursuit of their lost livelihood and work,
the locals began moving, apart from agriculture, the community did not provide many options for
making a living. So, the villages relocated to cities and began accepting odd jobs, with the bulk
opting for hotel management and beginning to work in hotels in large cities.
So, for the time being, the major source of employment for the villages, particularly the
youth, is migration, where they may work in the service industry, notably in the hotel
management sector. Aside from hotel management, the Indian Army is another important
employment area where many villagers have been reported to be engaged. A few villagers own a
shop and a very few are still involved in agriculture like farming in poly homes or opting for
mushroom cultivation and poultry.
Apart from that, according to the government's MGNREGA plan, some people in the village
earn a living by working under the MGNREGA scheme, however owing to a lack of extension
work, only a few people are aware of the benefits of government schemes like MGNREGA. The
women of the village are shown to be involved in household chores and tasks to preserve their
living, such as working in agriculture in the absence of their male counterpart. Further Women
care for cattle, children, and travel across muddy terrain to obtain wood, fodder, grass, and water.
In summary, prior to the dam's construction, the primary occupation of villagers was agriculture,
but now the primary occupation is migration and odd jobs in big cities, particularly hotels, with
remittances as the main source of income, and other employment sources in villages only include
the army, retail shops, agriculture, and MGNREGA.
Sources of Employment
200
200
180
156
160
140
120
100
76
80 68
57
60 43 44 43
36
40
14 17
6 11 7 8 7
20 3 4
0
Male Female Total
Agriculture Manufacturing Non-Manufacturing Services Others Total
Figure 11- Graph shows agriculture became the least adopted source for employment as most of
villagers moved outside to earn their livelihood from tertiary sector of economy.
a) Agriculture activities:
People used to cultivate wheat, rice, lentils, and vegetables, but as a result of increased crop spoiling
owing to wild animals and unseasonal rains, they switched to oregano cultivation, which requires little
agricultural practices. When speaking with the inhabitants, it was discovered that the Tehri Dam's
construction resulted in the displacement of wild animals in their community. The town used to be self-
sufficient, but the wild animals' involvement seriously hampered agricultural activities. Families have
been driven to travel in search of better prospects and amenities as a result.
Figure 12- Barren Land
b) Income and Consumption:
The average income of the villagers in Kathooli lies between the range of Rs. 10,000-
25,000. The primary occupation is agriculture for most of the villagers, which is done by
cultivating oregano in the fields. But due unexpected rainfalls it is also limited to one crop a year
and sometimes the fields are left barren. Women of the households are also engaged in economic
activities through door to door selling of cow milk. The village also represents a section of
retired army men who are receiving pensions from the government on a regular basis. A large
number of government schemes like MGNREGA, Atal yojgar Yojna etc. are also running in the
village but the lack of awareness among the villagers allows only a few to get benefits from
these schemes and policies.
The villagers spend their major part of the earnings in food expenses followed by social
expenses such as marriage. Rituals etc. With the average age of villagers between 37-60 years,
the village has high adult crowd facing high healthcare expenses. Apart from the above
mentioned, high expenditure area also includes travel expenses and agriculture related expenses.
Limited opportunities, high transport cost, low options for regular connectivity to the
nearby village for essential necessities such as education, healthcare, food, water and low
opportunities in the nearby localities has been causing high youth migration in the area. It has
also been noted that families who have at least 2 members who have migrated, such families
have seen increased amount of remittances. The migrants of village send remittances which
enhance income and livelihood of the families. In spite of the economic remittances, the
economic status of the families has not improved significantly as the average income of majority
of the families (nearly 50 %) is still less than Rs.10,000, (the real remittance lies somewhere
between Rs. 3000-5000). The family income of 34 % of the households changed after migration
to a range of Rs.10,000-15000 whereas about 16% households saw their income difference to be
more than Rs.15,000.Of this 16 %,the majority of the households were those where more than 2
members have migrated.
Figure 13-Average Income Per Household

Figure 14- Expenditure area
Figure 15-Ration Shop
SHOCKS:
The village Kathooli due to its hilly terrain does not offer much livelihood opportunities to the villagers
and it is not optimal for any industrial development due to which Agriculture remains a major source of
livelihood for the villagers. The villagers lack sufficient assets and due to poor quality of education in the
village schools’ people also lack capacity building skills due to which they remain highly vulnerable to
shocks and are at high risk because their livelihood is not resilient.
Development Shock: The major shock that the villagers faced was with the development of Tehri Dam
that made the wild animals to enter the Village who destroyed their agricultural crops causing major
economic loss to the villagers. Due to their vulnerability the villagers never able to restore their Pre-Dam
lifestyle as now they were not able to fulfil their basic needs as they left their land uncultivated or are
cultivating only Oregano that is not offering them huge returns. According to villagers before Dam
construction they were eating what they were growing and used to buy just Salt from outside but due to
their Vulnerability the Development hit them the hardest taking away their livelihood and food from
them, thereafter many children also got hit by malnourishment as villagers no longer are cultivating the
major crops like Rice and Wheat forcing villagers to move out to cities for Employment.
Climate Change: Change in Climatic Condition is also another Shock that the village has faced or has
been facing. It brought a huge Natural Disaster in the Village in form of floods that destroyed all the
houses and buildings of the village. Disruptive weather and other climate change related disasters hit
the poor villagers the hardest as they are least able to adapt to a changing world. Further Climate
Change over the years gave hardships to the villagers like during our stay only the villagers reported the
drought the village is facing.
Systematic Risk: The Risk that affects the whole community or village is called as Systematic Risk. As a
result of the shock Risk is the effect of the shocks. The Dam construction led to destruction of
Agriculture of the village as a whole and the shock put the livelihood of the villagers in risk as the village
due to its hilly terrain did not offer much to sustain the livelihood. In financial terms this shock can be
termed as most heavy for the villagers.
Besides the shock of Climate Change and Disaster can also be termed as Systematic Risk as it caused
havoc in the whole village, destroying the houses, shops, agricultural crops of the villagers. It also caused
huge financial loss in the village but it was one-time shock unlike the shock that Dam gave to the
villagers. The Climate Change is also acting as a risk to villagers as it is causing failure of certain
Agricultural Crops thereby deteriorating the health of children and old people and increasing the
frequency of Natural Disasters.
2%
18%
35%
5%
28% 12%
Education Facilities Unemployment

Natural Disaters Low Agri. Production Others
Figure 16-The above graph shows how different push factors that act as shocks to the livelihood
mechanism of the villagers forced them to move outside the village.
COPING MECHANISM:
a) MIGRATION:
The villagers in response to the shock that they received where in the development took away
their livelihood from them consequently left the village. They migrated in masses because the village,
apart from agriculture, did not offer much employment opportunities and the villagers (specially the
youth) after getting education (till inter or high school) started migrating to nearby cities or other
regions in search of jobs.
Education
80
60
Other Facilities 40 Employment
20
Climate Change Health Facilities
low Ag production
Figure 17-The graph shows that the major driver of migration is employment followed by education
and low agricultural production which testify the fact that the villagers after losing their livelihood
from agriculture they migrated to other regions in search of employment.
Figure 18-The Migrated Homes

The migration of men resulted in Feminization of agriculture and women decided to cultivate
Oregano on their piece of land that otherwise was left barren. Apart from remittance, the women in
response of shocks increased their hard work by not only working in the agricultural fields but also
taking care of livestock. They also walk long distances to collect wood, fodder and water doing which
they are saving some money and also generating some revenue from selling their Oregano.
b) Agriculture Intensification:
In Response to the shocks, some villagers also responded by way of Agriculture

Intensification with help of some external inputs and their own labor and social resources, some
villagers established Poly houses, Mushroom Cultivation and Poultry Farming that give them
some financial support in response to the shocks they faced.
c) Reduction:
In response of the shock, some villagers reported to be reduced their food consumption or
sell their assets like Cow, TV, Jewelry etc.
d) Adaptation:
As a coping strategy, some individuals of the village started working as laborer under the
MGNREGA scheme to earn the employment while some others shifted their livelihood portfolio
and open retail shops in the village to generate employment.
Some other coping strategies adopted by the villagers were selling of assets like livestock, agri.
Equipment, TV etc. To enhance the livelihood assets, women of the village decided to make Self Help
groups, there are many SHGs that women of village are engaged with but not saving much from them
because of the absence of backing from any government entity. It is running solely on efforts and
contribution of women of the village.
CONCLUSION-
To sum Up it can be said that the village Kathooli has been the victim of perils of hill development that
has destroyed its Agriculture that used to be major livelihood source for villagers due to which the
village witnessed mass migration to city areas and now the main source of income for households of
Kathooli is Remittance that they received from migrated members. There is a caste system that is
prevalent in the village with SC people staying in lower region and Upper caste in upper region of village.
It can be concluded that the village is witnessing a Man VS Animal Conflict which destroyed their
livelihood and forced the youth to drop out from schools and migrate in search of employment and
better life opportunities. The village is lacking basic amenities like Education, Quality Food,
Transportation, Retail Shops that is bringing hardships in the lives of villagers. Our Experience there
exposed us to all these hardships and as a manager in making it set a strong base for us to grow in right
direction of Rural Development.
SECTION – II
OF

PRM 42 & FPRM 20
Theme Paper
TITLE
[ Drivers of Migration and its socio-economic impact on the region of
Kathooli And May Badel Village, Uttarakhand]
HOST ORGANISATION
[FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DEHRADUN, UTTRAKHAND]
Prepared by:

Faculty Guide
[Dr. Prof. Saswata Biswas]

of the
PRM/FRPM

December 2021
Abstract:
The migration is one of the important factors in determine the socio-economic growth in any
region in the present time economic and education factors are main responsible behind the
migration in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand. This Study examine the types, reasons and
consequences of migration in the Kathooli village of Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. The
analysis was carried out on the drivers, causes of migration, age wise migration, place of
migration, use of remittance, duration of migration, sector of migration, education of migrants
and focuses on the major driving forces that influence migration. The study also carried out to
know about the major socio-economic changes that took place in village after migration. Poorly
developed agriculture has always remained a major factor but that too has only acted as mere
source of subsistence of living for the inhabitants of these regions. Among these adversities the
women of these areas have taken the entire burden of the economy. We conducted survey
questionnaires of 2 villages and around 130+ households have been observed. We used stratified
sampling, Simple Random Sampling and Purposive Sampling techniques to carry out the survey.
The results show that Employment, Education, Health facilities, Low Agricultural Production
and basic facilities are major drivers of migration and among them Education and Employment
dominates the trend. Also, the survey revealed that majorly men of the family migrate leaving
behind females in the family who then support the family, undertake the caring aspect, look after
livestock and do agricultural activities along with all physical activities like Water collection,
Fodder and fuel collection that is the major socio-economic change that migration caused in the
village. To curb the migration, we suggest that the government should make efforts in the
direction of reviving the agriculture of region and empower and impart skill to the the women
who now has a large say in the economy of the region. Besides we suggested that there should be
provision of setting up institutional centers to impart skill and enhance capacity of youth, the
pedagogy of the region should also be concern of the government along with providing extension
service to the villagers. Further it is suggested that the government should give a special
emphasis to Kathooli region as it was victim of the long-awaited development that acted as one
of major driver of migration.
Introduction:
Rural Migration is a long-time phenomenon wherein the people living in rural areas aspire to
move out to urban areas for multiple reasons. Over the years Migration is taking place in rural
areas of the country and is affecting demographic, political and socio-economic situation of the
area. Though the government of India in order to stop the migration through its many schemes
and programs has vowed to make the rural India a engine of growth but ground reality suggests
that nothing much has changed and people still due to lack of opportunities and many other
reasons are continuing to migrate to the urban areas that is putting a great constrain to their
native areas in terms of socio-economic aspects. This Paper is an attempt to find the reasons or
major drivers of Migration that took place in Kathuli a small village in Tehri Garhwal district of
Uttarakhand. It will also try to find out the impact that this migration has on socio-economic
situation of the area.
Uttarakhand is a hilly region which offer most tough condition to live in and working conditions
are also not conducive due to its hilly terrain as it do not provide any opportunity for set up of
industries, so for employment generation the inhabitants has to depend majorly on agriculture
and allied activities. Agriculture too is not an easy task for these hilly peoples as due to soil
conditions only selected crops can be cultivated and lands are also not consolidated which put
more pressure on cultivators. Agriculture due to these reasons also become only subsistence
farming putting pressure on inhabitants to move out to city for earning alternative livelihood.
The case of Kathuli is also not a different, the village is occupied with a beautiful Tehri Dam but
not beautiful for villagers as it robbed their livelihood and make them vulnerable to risks. Before
the Dam, almost all villagers were engaged in farming and dairy activities, it is their words that
they were so blessed that they only needed to buy salt from outside rest they were producing
their own food and also commercializing it and were earning their livelihood, Dam gave the
entry to many wild animals to their village thereby destroying their agriculture land and damaged
their crops. Since then they gave up on cultivating major crops like rice, wheat and shifted to
Oregano a herbal crop but that too cover only small portion of land rest they have to keep barren
due to wild animal’s attack. As the hills did not offer any other source of livelihood the youth in
large numbers migrated from the area inducing the feminization of Agriculture and domestic
labor. The increased participation of women in the economy of these regions which is largely
brought out by the increased migration of the youths. The problem of alcoholism, domestic
violence and lack of male contribution in the economy of the region has always posed a major
threat on the existence of the region and its inhabitants. Among these adversities the women of
these regions have played a significant role which not only confides to the boundaries of
domestic chores but in recent years have out shored to such an extent that they have become the
back bone of the economy of the region.
Over the past decade the reckless migration of youth and male population from the region has
impacted the overall socio-economic scenario of the village and has shifted the demographic
aspects as well. This Paper through appropriate methods will try to analyses the major’s drivers
behind this migration and how it changed the socio-economic situation of the area.
Fig 1: Migrated House in Kathooli

Literature Review:
Previous Findings of the area revealed that Agriculture is the primary occupation of the
inhabitants as the hilly area is geographically unsuitable for the industrial development. The
importance of the agriculture in these areas is mainly due to the capacity of the sector to engage
the working population.
More than three-fourths of Uttarakhand’s total population depends on agriculture for their
livelihood and the economy is predominantly dependent on mountain agriculture. However, the
land holdings are small and fragmented, and irrigation facilities limited. Soil and water
conservation is another issue for inclusive development. For physical, geographical and
environmental reasons, the scope for agricultural policies based on modern input-intensive
agriculture is severely constrained in the hill regions. As a result, the majority of the rural
population in the hills either survives on subsistence agriculture or migrates to other parts of the
country for employment. The state faces the challenge of promoting livelihoods to retain people
through local employment and income generation and to enhance their quality of life. While men
predominate in urban areas, the interior rural districts are amongst the few in all of India that
contain significant female majorities (Rawat, 2004). When men migrate to cities, apart from the
domestic chores of cooking, fetching fuel, fodder and water, looking after children, the tasks of
caring for livestock and agricultural work also fall on women’s shoulders. Although migration
has been always a part of the problem, in recent years the loss of able-bodied men has left
villages with only women, children and the old and disabled, in an increasingly degraded
landscape.
Difficult terrain, lack of transport, the lack of employment along with small farm sizes and low
farm incomes has fuelled large migration from rural areas of the state to the cities across the
country. The various studies as stated above further reflects upon the importance of women in
the economy of the rural areas which dominates the regions of Uttarakhand.
The studies also revealed that people lack sufficient skills and capacity due to lack of quality
education in the village which force them to migrate to the urban areas mostly after doing their
inter as in village due to its geographical nature they failed to find any source of livelihood hence
they moved out of the village to urban areas to work in any kind of job that match their skill or
else they try to build their capacity in the urban to engage in some kind of decent job.
The studies revealed that after the male migration all burden lies on women, they participate in
crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and fuel for their families, and engage in
off-farm activities to diversify their families’ livelihoods. In addition, they carry out vital
reproductive functions in caring for children, older persons and the sick.
Objectives of the Research:
The Research carried out mainly to get an image of migration status in the Kathuli Village of
Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Following are some of the objectives of the study:
• To find out the major reasons or drivers behind migration of the village.
• To identify push/pull factors that caused migration
• To identify the change in sector of the migrated working population
• To identify the time frequency at which migration was happening.
• To find out the social and economic changes that migration caused to the people
• To access the change that migration has caused to the family of the migrated.
• To access the socio-economic changes that migration has brought to the area.
Research Question:
Drivers of Migration and its Impact on socio economic condition of the Kathooli Village of
Tehri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand.
Methodology and Data Source:

Methodology:
For carrying out research the method by which the research is done plays a crucial role as it
decides the way your research will be carry forward. To conduct the survey, we used approach of
survey collection for the two villages Kathooli and May Badel. We made questionnaire to carry
out the survey and covered around 130+ households as sample size. Data on gender, age,
income, education, occupation, migration, push or pull migration, remittances, socio-economic
effects were gathered.
The type of migration i.e. permanent, semi-permanent, and seasonal. Also, the data on place of
migration like interstate, intra state and international was also studied. Relationship between
migration and other factors such as gender, age, income, education and employment were
considered.
In selecting the sample, we used Probability sampling where in each and every unit has equal
likely chance of getting selected in the sample. It is free from personal preferences and selection
of each unit is independent of other. Under Probability Sampling, we firstly selected Stratified
Sampling which is the sampling technique in which we divide the population in homogenous
strata on basis of some common characteristics, we divided the whole village in different strata
according to the terrain at which they were located. Then within Stratified Sampling we then use
Simple Random Sampling technique in which each element of the population is given an equal
and independent chance of selection, so within each strata by using technique of simple random
sampling, we selected the households to be included in the sample. Besides, due to the fact that
many houses were locked or empty we also used the non-probability sampling technique wherein
the selection of sample depends on some consideration, migration In this case. In Non-
Probability Sampling Technique, we used Purposive Random Sampling which is based on the
judgement of researcher as to who can provide the best information to achieve the objectives of
the study. As a researcher one only go to those people who in one’s opinion are likely to have the
required information and be willing to share it with you. So even when many households were
reluctant to answer and when we were finding many houses to be locked, we preferred those
households who have house head present in the house and are willing to share their details.
Data Source or study area:

The Tehri Garhwal Region is considered to be an important area of the Uttarakhand state, having
tallest dam of the country and abundant natural resources. The village Kathooli May Badel
stretches between 30° 23’46” N 78° 29’48” E with geographical area of 2.25 KM2 population
density of 667 people per square kilometer and sex ratio of 90.25. The village has 45 % of SC
population rest is general but the whole village is categorized into OBC. The village from which
the data is gathered has been rich in natural and human resource the area is socially backward
and lack the basic facilities and because of its hilly terrain nature is economically
underdeveloped.
For survey purpose the main source of data was head of the household, we surveyed the head of
household and from him we gathered all the migration information of the household. The data
source considered of households belonging to different caste and class in order to cover each and
every factor of the research. So, we surveyed the heads of surveyed households in terms of all
constraints that forced them to migrate and impact the outmigration.
Results and Analysis:

Migration has become the major issue in the hills of the Uttarakhand region. To study the
Drivers of Migration and its impact, we conducted a survey in 2 villages- Kathooli and May
Badel, Tehri Garhwal District of Uttarakhand. A total of 130+ households and approx. 200
individuals were surveyed. The following graphs and charts depict the results of the survey:
The Chart 1 depicts the migration from the village in the respective age group
100 88
80
54 57
60 41
35 31 29
40
17 19
20 12 12
5
0
Upto 10 10-18 18-45 Above 45
Male Female Total
Fig:2 Migration in various age groups

The Total Population of the village is approx. 1500 and approx. 60% is migrated outside.
Majorly women and older persons are residing in the village with mostly male youth migrating
outside.
Majorly the age group of 18-45(approx. 44%) has been migrated as being shown in the chart
above. Also, males are migrating more than females in each age group. The age group 10-18
years has migrated in search of getting better education. The percentage of SCs is
proportionately less among migrants, this is mainly due to weak social network and less
economic facilities of SC at the village, however due to reservation their proportion in migration
is increasing as they are going outside for better education opportunities.
Duration of Migration
80%
70%
60% 67.76%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 19%
13%
0%
1
Short Duration (2-6 months) Long Duration( 6-12 months

Permanent Migration(>12 months)
Fig 3: Duration of Migration

A Distinguishing feature of Migration in this region is its being a longer duration of a migration
(6-12 months) as migrants do came back home for some days but only at some special occasions.
About 2/3th migrants are of longer duration, it is of contrary pattern observed in other parts of the
nation where there are majorly short duration migrants (Srivastava, 2011). The migrants majorly
migrate for better education, better salary jobs and better socio-economic conditions.
Migration and Place:
5.10%
33.33%
61.57%
Intrastate Interstate International
Fig 4: Place trend of Migration

Below is the graph depicting internal migration i.e. migration within the state of Uttarakhand
(about 33.33)
New Tehri
Mussoorie
Dehradun Rishikesh
Haridwar
Kumauon Region
Fig:5 Intrastate Migration

New Tehri obtains the highest Migration share (23.7%) followed by Mussoorie (16.8%),
Dehradun (15.3%), Rishikesh and Other Kumaon Regions (14.8%). The Migrate population is
increasing in New Tehri Region in last few years due to better schools and education facilities in
the new tehri and also among all main cities, it is nearest to the Village. Weekly and monthly
Migration is also highest in New Tehri as mostly Government Servents and Students come back
home monthly. The Yearly Migration is highest in Mussoorie and Dehradun region as mostly
Private sector jobs present in that region.
Maharashtra
Chandigarh
Delhi
UP
Bengaluru
Gurugram
Gujarat
Punjab
MP
Fig:6 Interstate Migration

The above table shows the migration outside the state i.e. Interstate Migration (about 61.57%)
Maharashtra obtains the highest Migration share (32.5%) followed by Chandigarh (26%), Delhi
(19%), UP (12%) and Other states (10.5%).
The basic reason is that a lot of people are involved in private or unorganized sectors (Hotels,
industries etc.). Maharashtra has been the attraction for migrants due to its industrial reasons,
also Chandigarh and Delhi are nearby the state, so many people prefer to work there.
Interstate Migration has severe consequences, mainly due to permanent migration several houses
have permanently move to another states, hence village converting into ghost village. Further if
we talk about International migration then it is around 5.10% and all the migration is in Dubai.
2.90%
17.69%
79.41%
Rural Semi Urban Urban
Fig 7: Migration according to type of region

The Rural to Urban Migration is highest in % (approx.79.41) as compared to Rural-Rural
migration 2.90% and Rural to Semi Urban 17.69%.
The Highest Urban migration is in the places Dehradun, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Delhi
and Bengaluru.
The major factors of migration to urban cities include low agri. Productions, poor education
facilities unavailability of manufacturing sectors, basic amenities problems faced by people.
The attraction to cities arising due to hardship of village life, such as poor transport connectivity,
lack of health facilities and inaccessible markets have further accelerated the process of
migration of villagers.
Education Level of the migrants:
Kathooli village has access to primary and secondary schools but is lacking in Higher Education
Institutes, that leads to an outflow of human capital to other states of the nation or to cities of the
same state I.e. Uttarakhand. Approx. 45% of the total migration is due to unavailability of quality
education institutions.
Male Female Total
250
200
200
156
150
100
73
48 55
44
50 29 36 36
18 21 24
12 15 12
7 3 3 3 1 4
0
Illiterate Primary High School Inter Graduation Post Total
Graduation
Fig 8: Migration according to education level

As shown by the chart above, the highest migration is after completing Inter or 12th class, the
main reason is that the youth goes to the other states, for completing their education after which
they settle there and do not return back to the villages, some dropped after primary or high
school to support the economic activities of their families and indulge in some odd jobs after
migration. The area also has low per capita income, due to which the youth search for jobs after
they complete their 10th and 12th which accounts for approx. 60% of the total migration.
The ratio of female migration is low because the families consider marriage for their girls after
they complete their studies (generally after Inter) also many villagers find it odd and against their
culture to send their girls out for jobs or studies.
Major Drivers of Migration:
The Uttarakhand hill regions comprises of primitive economy, subsistence agriculture practice
dominates in occupation and livelihood, meanwhile limited availability of land and higher
population growth, poverty and lack of basic facilities has forced people to out migrate from the
region, the major driving forces include education, employment, low agriculture productivity,
health facilities has shifted villagers towards the plains areas.
Education
80
60
Other Facilities 40 Employment
20
0
Climate Change Health Facilities
low Ag production
Fig 9: Major Drivers of Migration

Education has become the major cause of out migration from the village as there is absence of
high education institutes, the primary and secondary schools are also limited and has poor quality
of pedagogy facilities which is not sufficient to build the capacity of the students, so they have to
migrate for capacity building.
After wild animals destroyed the agriculture of the village, the villagers to support their
livelihood needed to migrate to work in some odd jobs as due to hilly terrain there is lack of
industries in the region thereby making it the second most major driver of migration after
education.
Then the low agriculture productivity due to wild animal attack, the building of dam, the lack of
irrigation facilities that all led to low agriculture productivity, thereby the farmers who were
earning their livelihood, lost their income that forced them to move outside in search of the
livelihood.
Apart from it, the other factors like health facilities, climate change, lack of supply chain, lack of
transport, lack of shops serving to the basic demands of the villagers, these all contribute to the
major drivers of migration.
Change in Livelihood Sector after Migration:

Rural to Urban Migration has historically been an important part of the urbanization process and
continues to be significant in scale in developing countries (RAMI and ADEYOKE 2011).
Further, Rural Migration incurs cost, both in money and time spent away from rural subsistence
task. Due to the decline in agricultural productivity and continuous destruction of the crop from
wild animals such monkeys and pigs has led to the majority of the population to shift from
agriculture sector to the other sectors of economy.
Livelihood Sector
200
200
180 156
160
140
120
100 76
68
80 57
44
60 36 43 43
40 17
6 11 7 14 8 4 7
20 3
0
Male Female Total
Agriculture Manufacturing Non-Manufacturing Services Others Total
Fig 10: Sectors in which Migrated villages work in

As being shown by the graph above majority of villagers have been migrated to service sector in
Hotel Management job, after surveying the villagers, it was revealed that here the most common
livelihood job after migration is in Hotel Management, youth either indulge in this job after inter
or they build their capacity by undergoing through a training to work at Hotels.
The Common trend observed in every household is that mostly the male migrates outside for
work whereas the female has to take care the home, child, livestock and agriculture. So, the
percentage of migration among males is far more than percentage of migration among females.
Usually one or two members of the family are migrants whereas other family members practice
agriculture and rear livestock, the migrants sent remittance to run the livelihood of their families.
Due to the lack of higher education institutions- The Youth migrates to the outer areas/states for
their higher education after which they settle there, the majority of the migration is in the service
sector and non-manufacturing sector which includes IT industry, Hotel Industry, Indian Army
and other services.
Also, Reverse Migration was also noticed in a few households wherein the youth migrated back
to the villages as entrepreneurs involved in Horticultural crops and mushroom cultivation.
Push and Pull Factors of Migration:
Push Factors:
There are many push factors/drivers driving migration from the village, among them education,
unemployment, facilities, low AGR. Production, climate change is prominent.
A large number of migrants, once migrated never came back to their respective villages therefore
the village is facing depopulation, land abandonment and food insecurity problems.
2%
18%
35%
5%
28% 12%
Education Facilities Unemployment

Natural Disaters Low Agri. Production Others
Fig 11: Push Factors of Migration
Fig 12: Push Factor (Employment)

Fig 13: Push Factor (Facilities)
Fig 14: Push Factor (Education)

Fig 15: Push Factor (Natural Disaster)
The above graphs show in depth the effect and trend of several push factors and how they impact
the livelihood of the village and how within a push factor how different trends are observed.
The Industrial backwardness of the region is another major push factor, although the village
contains abundant natural resources in the form of land, water and forest which can act as a base
for the establishment of the industries but at this point of time employment opportunities are
lacked behind and most of the educated youth are unemployed or either migrate to other regions.
A proverb says “Pahado ki Jawani and Paani Dono maidano mai beh gyi” which denotes the
youth and water from the hills has been drained to the plain’s areas.
Climate Change has largely been a major push factor. Agriculture in the village hills in
predominately rainfall, depending largely on monsoon the frequency of monsoon decreased and
its intensity has increased, rainfall further small land holdings and building of Tehri Dam has
decreased the availability of water, further declining agriculture productivity as a result people
out migrated to other regions.
Education is one amongst the most significant push factor, although the literacy rate of the state
is high but Kathooli village still lacks in quality higher educational institutions as a result of it,
the brain-drain from the village is still predominately high, generally the educated youth do not
prefer to work in villages due to which a decreasing trend of agricultural laborer has also been
observed during the survey of village.
Further the lack of basic facilities like health facilities, transport facility, lack of brick and mortar
shops etc. push the villagers out of the village
Pull Factors:
Pull Factors dominate in comparison to the push factors in the hilly districts of Uttarakhand and
village Kathooli is no different. Out Migration take place from the village to the town/cities
located nearby or in other states, most of the people can be seen as working in hotels, restaurants,
dhabhas, tea stalls. This generally takes place for better job opportunities and better livelihood.
About 33.33% villagers migrated intrastate and 61.57% interstate, while push factors comprising
poor living conditions, pull factors largely relate to job and other economic opportunities the
major pull factors are: Education, Employment, Facilities and better living conditions.
2%
10% 17%
32%
39%
Facilities Education Employment Better Living Conditions Others
Fig 16: Pull Factors of Migration
Fig 17: Pull Factor (Employment)

Fig 18: Pull Factor (Living Condition)
The above charts depict the pull factors and general trend within the each pull factor. Due to lack
of higher education facilities in the village, students of the village move out to get quality
education.
Then Employment opportunities of outer towns/cities attract the villagers the most, making it the
second most dominated pull factor of the village.
Other factors like facilities and better living opportunities also came out as major pull factor as in
village the standard of living is very poor and villagers need to struggle for carrying out their
basic amenities.
Income Difference:
Fig 19: Income Difference of Migrated Households
Youth Migration from the village, can be seen as to support the economy and changing
environmental stress of the village, a study carried out by Adams and Page 2005 observed that a
10% increase in per capita income can lead to 3.5% decline in poverty. The migrants of village
send remittances, which enhance income and livelihood of the families. Although not much
difference can be observed as majorly its less than 10,000, (the real remittance lies somewhere
between 3000-5000 in this range of less than 10,000) the income of families changes after
migration followed by a change of range of 10,000-15000 whereas about 16% households saw
their income difference to be more than 15,000 these are majorly those households whose more
than 2 members have been migrated.
Use of Remittance:
Fig 20: Use of Remittance by Households of Migrated Families

Fig. 20 showing the purpose for which remittance is being used by migrate households
The families of migrants back home use the remittance for various purposes, in our survey it is
revealed that majorly about 44% of household are using the remittance for the purpose of serving
to their basic needs like food, clothing and other amenities, while same percentage of households
use remittance for health and education purposes(25%) and some 5% are using for paying their
debt that they carried for child education, farming, marriage of daughter/dowry.
Any Socio-Cultural that migrants are missing:
Fig 19: showing the aspects that migrated people missed about village
As we carried our survey post Diwali holidays, many migrants were came home to celebrate the
festival with their families, after being questioned about the major things of village life that they
miss after migration, it is revealed that the culture is what they missed the most of their village as
they migrated to different states/cultures they find it hard to get acquainted with that culture it act
as kind of ‘cultural shock’ to migrants. Then they equally miss the social aspect and
environmental aspect of the village as in plain areas most of the migrants do not get aesthetic
view of hills.
Policy Suggestion
• To restore the agriculture of the village Kathooli and May Badel, there should be provision to
setup Polyhouses in the village wherein the farmers can cultivate small crops like vegetables,
plantings, floriculture etc in the controlled conditions from wild animals.
The Polyhouses can be constructed via government or the local available NGOs like Mohan
singh NGOs.
• Besides Polyhouses, we can also encourage farmers for the Mushroom cultivation. There is
already a training center available in the village – here we can train the farmers regarding
mushroom cultivation and can provide necessary infrastructure for mushroom cultivation via
government subsidy.
• The Agricultural land can be fenced for protection from wild pigs’ attack during night. This
can be done in individual plots of land of farmers.
• Villagers have at least 1 buffalo with them but they do not sell the milk outside, hence a dairy
cooperative can be employed to collect milk from villagers who have livestock with them,
this can give an alternative way to earn livelihood, can curb the migration.
• The major emphasis of the Government should be on the supportive programs for the
development of agriculture activities.
• The Villagers lack the knowledge of major government schemes that support their livelihood,
resulting which they are unable to get benefits of these schemes. Hence the government
should work on some extension work in the village, where in the villagers should be
disseminate with the required knowledge about the government schemes.
• As the major work force of the village include the females and they are carrying the major
economic activities in the village so the government should focus on supporting them
through imparting skill development to get them involved in the higher paid work or to step
up in entrepreneurship development.
• To enhance the employment of youth within the village, there should be provision to increase
the scope of MGNREGA. Currently few are getting the benefit of MGNREGA, which can be
extended to the many more unemployed youth in the village.
• There should be efforts to enhance the skills of youth of villagers by building some training
centers in the village. As it is noted that the youth lack capacity building which forced them
to migrate and take odd jobs there.
• The policy makers should initiate the hill development program where in main emphasis
should be given on creation of infrastructure facilities and social and community services.
• The potential of tourism industry should also be harnessed for creation of employment within
the hilly region.
Limitation of Study:
Non-Responsive Bias: Many respondents were reluctant to share the information about their
household and family members, some refused to take part in the survey, leading to the non-
responsiveness of some households. Many respondents were not ready to share the income of
household, the amount of remittance they get, the salary of the migrated member.
Social Desirability Bias: Some questions of the survey were related to some personal sensitive
information of the family members, some respondents were seen to spin the truth in order to
portray themselves in socially desirable manner, hence it is probability that they give some
wrong information, representing the social desirability bias.
Sampling Bias: As many houses were seen to be locked, due to which we failed to cover the
whole village, hence the sample missed some houses before coming into conclusion. Hence the
research paper also possesses Sampling Bias.
• Due to data limitations, we are not able to address whether individuals who migrated to
another state for purpose of education return to the original place of residence.
• Due to the harsh and extreme terrains of the region, we couldn’t complete the survey of some
households residing in the upper hilly regions of the village (May Badel)
Recall Bias: When respondents failed to recall some events, memories it is called as Recall bias,
during our survey many respondents were not able to recall the data like the age at which the
family members migrated, their exact education qualification leading to the presence of Recall
Bias in the research paper.
Conclusion:
The Survey data supported the conclusion that there is a lack of education, health facility, job
opportunities, basic facilities in the village which act as major drivers of migration from the
Village. Education and Employment being the two major drivers of migrations. Generally, the
major age group that migrate from the village in huge number lie between 18 to 40 years with
education qualification till Intermediate. It can be concluded that the long-awaited development
of the hilly region that has pushed backward the development of these regions relatively to the
other regions of Uttarakhand or to the other states of the regions as it made it impossible for the
villagers to carry out their basic livelihood activity i.e. Agriculture and they do not have enough
capacity building and alternate opportunities to earn livelihood in the village itself. As a result,
the village is transforming into a Ghost Village as majorly the households are getting converted
into houses. Men dominates the data when it comes to the migration of a family member. Also, it
can be concluded that the major work force of the village goes into service sector (Hotel
management) and even after having agriculture land with them they are not cultivating it due to
wild animals’ attack that caused huge economic loss to the villagers. Besides majority of
households have only women left after the male migrated to support their livelihood which is
causing Feminization of Agriculture (they are growing Oregano Crop) also females are carrying
out major activities like livestock care, child care, in laws care, fodder and fuel collection, water
collection etc. which is what socio-economic change that has observed in the village after
migration as before migration when men were present in the house, they were carrying all these
socio-economic works. Further the research also has finding that even after migration not much
economical change is observed in household as majorly the income difference after migration
was less than 10,000 majorly between 3000 to 5000 because migrants lack the capacity to work
in decent jobs their education level and financial situation forced them to undertake some odd
jobs. The migrants do miss the culture and environment of their village but they are trapped in
such a vicious circle that they have to migrate outside the village if they want to sustain the
future of their families.
Therefore, at the community level the development of agriculture should be ensured and the
government should take the steps for the development of the infrastructural facilities through
which employment can be generated. The government support should focus on supporting the
active female workforce through imparting skill development to get them involved in the higher
paid work or to step up in entrepreneurship development Government should spread the
extension facilities in the village to make villagers aware of the various government schemes,
along with it the education and pedagogy facilities of the village need to be improved along with
the establishment of some institutional centers in the region to enhance the capacity building of
youth so that they can work in decent jobs. The government should strictly focus on
implementing the policies to provide best alternate solutions in front of them to deal with the
problem of migration and under developed status of the region and to support the livelihood of
villagers.
References:
• Kanika, M. and Maikuri, R.K. 2018. Assessing Reasons of Outmigration from Garhwal
Himalayan Region A case study of three hill district. IJCRT.
• Awasthi, I.C. 2012.Livelihood Diversities in mountain Economy: Constraints and
Opportunities. New Delhi Concept Publishing Company Pvt Ltd.
• Mittal, S. and Tripathi G. 2008. Deepsethi, Working Paper No. 217 “Development Strategy
for the Hill Districts of Uttarakhand”, ICRIER. Pp 8&9
• Jangwan Ashutosh and Upreti Pallavi 2019, Status of migration in Uttarakhand: A case study
of Rudraprayag District
• Vishwambhar Prasad Sati, Mizoram University, 2016, Patterns and Implications of Rural-
Urban Migration in the Uttarakhand Himalaya
• Rural Development and Migration Comission, Uttarakhand, Pauri, 2018
• Internal Migration and Human Development In India, 2011, UNICEF
SECTION – III
OF

PRM 42 & FPRM 20
Rural Action Component
TITLE
[Impact Of Climate Change On The Livelihood Of People Of Kathooli Village]
HOST ORGANISATION
[FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DEHRADUN, UTTRAKHAND]
Prepared by:
Reporting Officer(s)
[Dr. Rajiv Pandey, Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehradun]

of the
PRM/FPRM

December 2021
SUMMARY OF RAC:
Title: Drivers of Migration and its socio-economic impact on the village
INTRODUCTION:
Rural Migration is a long-time phenomenon wherein the people living in rural areas aspire to
move out to urban areas for multiple reasons. Over the years Migration is taking place in rural
areas of the country and is affecting demographic, political and socio-economic situation of the
area. In Kathooli village the reckless migration of youth and male population from the region has
impacted the overall socio-economic scenario of the village and has shifted the demographic
aspects as well. As the hills did not offer any other source of livelihood the youth in large
numbers migrated from the area inducing the feminization of Agriculture and domestic labor.
PURPOSE OF STUDY:
To find out the major reasons or drivers behind migration of the village. To identify push/pull factors
that caused migration. To identify the change in sector of the migrated working population. To find
out the social and economic changes that migration caused to the people.
METHODOLOGY:
To conduct the survey, we used approach of survey collection for the two villages Kathooli and May
Badel. We made questionnaire to carry out the survey and covered around 130+ households as
sample size. Data on gender, age, income, education, occupation, migration, push or pull migration,
remittances, socio-economic effects were gathered.
Probability Sampling- Stratified Sampling: we divided the whole village in different strata according
to the terrain at which they were located. Then within each strata by using technique of simple
random sampling, we selected the households to be included in the sample.
Besides, due to the fact that many houses were locked or empty we also used the non-probability
sampling technique wherein we used Purposive Random Sampling.
For survey purpose the main source of data was head of the household, we surveyed the head of
household and from him we gathered all the migration information of the household.
OBSERVATIONS:
The survey reveal that the Dam construction acted negatively for villagers that gave entry of wild
animals into the village that destroyed the agriculture of the village, taking away the major livelihood
of the village, due to hilly terrain the village lacks industrial development so as a coping mechanism
the villagers started migrating outside in search of livelihood. There is a lack of education, health
facility, job opportunities, basic facilities in the village which acted as major drivers of migration
from the Village. Education and Employment being the two major drivers of migrations. Generally,
the major age group that migrate from the village in huge number lie between 18 to 40 years with
education qualification till Intermediate. Men dominates the data when it comes to the migration of a
family member. Also, it can be concluded that the major work force of the village goes into service
sector (Hotel management). Besides majority of households have only women left after the male
migrated to support their livelihood which is causing Feminization of Agriculture (they are growing
Oregano Crop) also they are carrying out major activities to support the livelihood.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The major emphasis of the Government should be on the supportive programs for the development of
agriculture activities. Government should work on extension work in village as villagers lack
awareness regarding govt. schemes. As the major work force of the village include the females and
they are carrying the major economic activities in the village so the government should focus on
supporting them through imparting skill development. There should be efforts to enhance the skills of
youth of villagers by building some training centers in the village. The policy makers should initiate
the hill development program where in main emphasis should be given on creation of infrastructure
facilities and social and community services.
CONCLUSION:
The research concluded that there is a lack of education, health facility, job opportunities, basic
facilities in the village which act as major drivers of migration from the Village. Education and
Employment being the two major drivers of migrations. Generally, the major age group that
migrate from the village in huge number lie between 18 to 40 years with education qualification
till Intermediate. As a result, the village is transforming into a Ghost Village as majorly the
households are getting converted into houses. Men dominates the data when it comes to the
migration of a family member.
Majority of households have only women left after the male migrated to support their livelihood
which is causing Feminization of Agriculture (they are growing Oregano Crop) also females are
carrying out major activities like livestock care, child care, in laws care, fodder and fuel
collection, water collection etc.
Therefore, at the community level the development of agriculture should be ensured and the
government should take the steps for the development of the infrastructural facilities through
which employment can be generated. The government support should focus on supporting the
active female workforce through imparting skill development to get them involved in the higher
paid work or to step up in entrepreneurship development Government should spread the
extension facilities in the village to make villagers aware of the various government schemes.

Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS) PRM 42: (Forest Research Institute, Dehradun)

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Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS) PRM 42: (Forest Research Institute, Dehradun)

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VILLAGE FIELDWORK SEGMENT (VFS)

[FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DEHRADUN]

SURAJ BHATT (P42163)

In Partial fulfillment of the requirements of the VFS

INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND

• Exploratory Study of the Village

o Identification of village & household 6

• Rural Action Component