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1. ISSUE AND CONTEXT Rural-urban migration continues in the Nepal Himalaya as elsewhere. The rise of slums and frontier towns in the urban peripheries of Nepal is one indication of this. The population of Kathmandu valley has reached 1.5 million and is climbing. Kathmandu alone receives thousands of migrants each year. Push and pull factors such as internal displacement caused by the Maoist insurgency and search for seasonal or long-term economic opportunities are, of course, contributing factors. As long as the expected urban income is perceived to be greater than expected rural income (all things being equal), this trend will most likely continue. While in the past, men out-migrated leaving their women behind, today women are also increasingly out-migrating with their men or friends. Mountain villages are increasingly emptying of able-bodied men and women. Remittance has always been an important part of mountain economy. Moreover, trends show that the upland people are more likely to out-migrate than the lowlanders. Understanding the pattern of out-migration from upland regions of Nepal to its urban peripheries or the plains or to the Gulf countries is important for mountain development. The migrants pouring into Kathmandu typically gravitate toward the burgeoning informal sector: brick kilns, construction, dance and cabin restaurants, garment and carpet factories, often in low skills-requiring jobs. It is learnt that in one season (normally 2-3 months), the worker saves anywhere from NRs 5,000 to 12,000 (USD 1 = NRs 75). One clear pattern, among many, that emerges is of rural mountain people out-migrating to cities to work in labor-intensive enterprises in the informal sector. This should tell us something: that promoting rural industrialization and small to medium enterprises in appropriate locations in mountain areas may not only lead to greater utilization of local resources but also help stem the flow of out-migration to some extent. To that end, diversifying rural mountain economy - characterized by its dependence on subsistence agriculture, volatile tourism, if any, and remittances - may be a good idea. This, however, calls for massive government spending on physical infrastructure (road, electricity and communications) in mountain areas, as well as guarantees of peace and security, before business investments - from local or outside sources - are forthcoming. |
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2. PEOPLE'S VOICES
Roop Kumari Dangi (from Rolpa, Western Nepal): "This is my first time in Kathmandu. I came to work here (in brick kiln in Imadol, Lalitpur) after planting wheat. I will go back in April for harvest. Whether in my village or here, I have to work hard. I spend six months working here and six months back in my village." Laxmi Maharjan (from Kavre, Middle Nepal): "My whole family is here because what we earn in the village lasts us only six months. The soil in my village is reddish, there is no water, so it is difficult to grow vegetables. If there had been an irrigation system in place, we would not have had to come here to work in the brick kiln. We start work at 7 AM and by the end of the day we make about 4,000 bricks. Of course, we're here to make money." Dan Bahadur Shahi (from Kalikot, Western Nepal): "I sell Belgian and Nepali carpets with my son and son-in-law. It is difficult for a man of 50-55 years of age to go around the city carrying these the whole day. None has been sold today. If sold, there will be a profit of 200 to 400 rupees (USD1=NRs 75) at the most. If not sold, we have to take them back to my rented room and start all over again tomorrow. Selling door to door is hard work. On a good day, I sell 5-6 carpets; at other times I do not sell even one in ten days." No name: "Some people from Kalikot (in Western Nepal) go to India to work as manual laborers and some spend their lives selling carpets on their trips to Kathmandu. Some come to the city to get an education." Bhim Kumari BK: "There is not enough to eat at home. Whatever we harvest lasts us only a few months. Since off-season livelihood options are limited back home, I come to the city hoping to earn a few rupees." Raju Lama: "It is important to have money to buy daily necessities, such as clothes, food items like oil and salt as well as to pay rent. My reason for coming to Kathmandu is to earn a few extra rupees to ease my financial hardship." Kalpana Gharti: "It's nice here in the city. There are places to go and see. There are motor vehicles to see and ride. There are no vehicles in my village." ManKumari Roka: "My friends who were going to the city asked me to join them, so I came along. I work in a brick kiln carrying and baking bricks. Whatever money I save goes to my creditors . I also send money home to my parents and the remaining I keep for my own expenses here in the city." Ravindra Maharjan: "I work here during the work 'season', in summer I go home and pay my creditors. With the remaining money, I buy meat, new clothes." Dhan Kumari Budha: "Men in my village can get work anywhere, we women are not so lucky. Here at least we can work in the brick kilns. I came here with my friends." Sanu Maya Shrestha: "I was studying back in my village when I felt the urge to visit this city and I did. So after I passed Grade 7, I came to Kathmandu. It is much harder to work than to study." Rita Thapa: "Kathmandu is such a big city. It is easy to like it here. Working in the brick kiln, I have come to like it here more than my home." Man Maya Budha: "My first visit here was with a middle man. This time I came here with my husband. Back home in Rolpa (the Maoist heartland) we can work in the field only in the summer. Here we can work anytime and receive immediate cash at hand. Here there are many opportunities, and during free time, one can go sightseeing." |
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3. EXPERT'S OPINION Saru Joshi Shrestha, Development Unit, UNIFEM: "One of the reasons for rural-urban migration is the ‘copy cat syndrome’ . Of course, there are push and pull factors in play. Push factors such as lack of job opportunities in the villages and lack of physical infrastructure. No factories, no other forms of employment, no medical support, no educational institutions. The pull factor, on the other hand, is the availability of all of these and more in cities. "The hills are barren. From each family, someone or the other has left home to join the army or gone to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kathmandu to earn money. Their fields are fallow. But of course they can earn money on foreign soil. The current conflicts in mountainous regions are also reason for people to move the cities leaving their villages silent and empty. The hills are growing more and more silent as the number of people leave. With not many living in certain pockets of mountain and hill region, why the government or non-government organizations want to conduct a project or program for development there, I do not understand." |
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4. WRAP-UP Dr Mrigendra Lal Singh, Professor, Department of Population and Statistics at Tribhuvan University : "Everybody loves their home country yet for people it has become a compulsion to outmigrate. Poverty and persecution at home are reasons why people take economic and political refuge in other countries. We say we are an agricultural country but there are probably more people enlisting in foreign armies than working the fields. Not surprisingly, out-migration from villages to cities as well as from the country to foreign shores has now become a way of life. "During the Rana regime, people were forced to join the British Army to fight the First and Second World Wars. There was a rule then: once a boy turned 15, he had to join the army. Nepal was a closed country until the fifties when we had our first democracy. We were then curious to learn what was going on in the rest of the world, what privileges they had. There were more opportunities abroad than in Nepal. Besides, there were limited opportunities to earn hard cash in Nepal, which is why people started going abroad to make money. Since then, there has been this mindset in people that to make money they must go abroad. There are also reasons like “my father went abroad, so why shouldn’t I?” In the country itself, people did not want to go to the Terai (the plains) because of malaria. In the fifties, the jungles in Chitwan and Makwanpur were cleared and the government distributed land. The hill people thought that the population pressure would now ease. Hill people migrated to the plains because they thought life would be easier there. "Because of the Maoist insurgency, it has now become almost a compulsion to migrate. Internal displacement is rampant. The Terai people work their fields for one season and out-migrate. People will naturally move to where life is easier for them. People move to Kathmandu not only because everything is available here but it also is the political and administrative hub of the country. Our aspiration is to become a babu saheb (hotshot) and bully the farmer. But getting education in Kathmandu is not enough anymore, they all want to go abroad. The government should think hard about this issue. It should restore dignity to labor right at home and reduce discrimination based on caste, gender, ethnicity and creed." |
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5. RELATED LINK(S) |
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