Indian Forest Service officer Sharad Singh Negi who retired in March this year was recently appointed as the vice-chairperson of the newly constituted Rural Development and Migration Commission by the Trivendra Singh Rawat government. In an interaction with TOI, Negi spelt out his priorities and how he intends to tackle the mounting problem of migration from the hills. Excerpts:The problem of migration is of great concern for Uttarakhand. The state has close to 1,000 abandoned villages. Hill districts like Almora and Pauri have shown a negative decadal growth from 2001 to 2011 while areas like Dehradun and Haridwar have seen population go up by 32.38 and 33.4 per cent respectively during this period. This shows the imbalance between the hills and plains which we will need to check.Job and earning opportunities, education, health facilities and connectivity are the major concerns for a person living in the hills. If these issues are systematically handled, people would prefer staying in the hills. A survey of migrated population by the directorate of economics and statistics in 2011-12 had found that education, better jobs and marriage were the main reasons for migration. A study by Kumaun University in 2016 found unemployment as the biggest factor. We will bear these things in mind while trying to seek solutions. Having said that, separate solutions are required for different areas. A plan may work in one belt but not in other. We will tour the state, interact with people to assess the ground situation. Promoting cash crop, eco-tourism or homestays are among the few thoughts we have in mind. We will prepare our reports on the basis of the ground situation, conducive environment and the potential of the recommended changes in a particular area.The government will definitely play a crucial role in bringing the required changes be it promoting activities or building infrastructure. The people after the initial start need to pick up from there and reduce dependence on government. We will also be compiling a list of success stories. There are many locals who have done extremely well in homestays, horticulture and other sectors in the hills and we will compile their details and tell the people and also the government about their achievements. On a regular basis, we will share our findings with the state government and recommend to them the steps that can be taken to check migration.

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