Mana, last India village on China border, devises out-of-box idea to stop migration

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timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Seema Sharma
Nov 7, 2015,

DEHRADUN: The villagers of Mana, the last Indian village on the India-China border, have devised an interesting way to step migration from their village, an increasing problem in the Uttarakhand hills. The villagers have developed a roster system wherein each family from the village, irrespective of whether they are staying in the village or have migrated, have to take the responsibility of looking after the rituals and festivities in the village temples for a period of six months by staying in the village. There are almost 400 families in this village which lies ahead of the Badrinath shrine in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. More than 50% of the villagers have moved out from the village in search of better employment opportunities. Village elders say that this system ensures that those who have migrated remain in touch with their roots and the village never becomes completely empty.

Elaborating on the methodology devised by the villagers, Bhagat Singh Badwal, gram pradhan of the village, told TOI, “Around 250 families have left the village over the years. Through our roster system, four families are selected each year for six months. They make all the arrangement and provide funds for our local religious rituals. Not only this, at least one member of each family that has left, has to stay in the village for the entire duration to take care of the arrangements. This is a system that has been devised as per the wishes of our native god, Ghantakaran. As a consequence of this, the houses in our village are in good condition and despite migration from the hills being so rampant, our village hasn’t been deserted.” He added that the responsibility for the religious rituals is taken up by somebody else if the family which has been earmarked for it, is poor and is unable to meet the expenses.

Incidentally, while Mana has of late started receiving a number of tourists because of it being the last Indian village on the Indo-China border, villagers say they are struggling with lack of basic amenities like a good hospital and schools. “Many families are leaving the village because they are getting a better life elsewhere,” pointed out Ram Singh Kandari, a villager.