Depopulation In Rural Areas and Agricultural Transformation: A study of Kirtinagar Block Tehri Garhwal District

Abstract

out migration is a major phenomena at the present time of the world especially in the mountain region. This global issue effect the world socio-economic, cultural and demographic structure. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the number of international migrants reached 281 million in 2020, indicating the increased migration of people across borders due tos economic inequities, wars, and environmental changes. As per the report of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2020-21, released by MoSPI (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation), the total migration rate in India was 28.9% and in rural was 26.5%. Out of the total migrant persons, around 10.8% persons were migrated due to employment-related reasons, especially in the hilly region. According to a recently published report, Kirtinagar block has experienced mass migration in the last 10 years where nearly 6644 persons migrated permanently and 5395 semi-permanently.  The migration direction toward the batter economic region from less economic regions. It is necessary to understand the various drivers and implications of out migration in the hilly region. The present study tried to find out the basic reasons, patterns, and impact on agricultural activities of this mass migration. the result show that the most of people migrated for the economic region and some others. Both primary and secondary data are used to find out the overall picture of depopulation villages. Primary data is collected through the questionnaire, interviews, and focused group discussion, whereas secondary data is collected through the district census handbook, government reports, district statistical diary, papers, etc. Keywords: Agriculture Activities, Depopulation, Hilly Areas, Migration, Rural Livelihood.