It’s not a case of parched farm lands. It’s not even the case of lack of food for thousands of poor rural folks who get rice at Rs1 per kg to cite a reason to migrate out of Chhattisgarh in search of work. But in this ‘rice bowl’ of India and the State with sufficient Government welfare schemes for the poor, it’s still happening. Here is a catch —The Central Government schemes as popular as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MNREGS) being operational in the State for years had failed to keep villagers within their homeland in rural Chhattisgarh.
Going by the Government data, as many as 95,324 people have left their homes during the last three years in search of greener pastures to other States. There are also reports of migration from Balod, Kawardha, Gariaband, Durg and Dhamtari , Bemetara, with Janjgir-Champa district with the maximum 29,190 people migrating to work in other States. And its not that the State Government does not accept the migration reality. State Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey, in a written reply to leader of Opposition TS in the Chhattisgarh Assembly has admitted on the migration issue himself. So where do the migrants go for workIJ It’s in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring Madhya Pardesh mainly to work as construction workers and in brick klins
The scenario isn’t bright even with the educated rural women in Chhattisgarh. The State Government has decided to soon establish Working Women’s hostels in cities of Raipur, Bilaspur and Durg. A provision of Rs15 crore had been made in the State budget for 2015-16. As per the 2011 census, a large number of State’s rural women come in search of employment to cities within the State. Keeping this view, the State Government has decided to establish the hostels.