JUMLA, Nov 18: The youth of Jumla are forced to go to Kalapahad (India) for job opportunities as they don’t see any possibility of employment at their own place, despite the presence of three layers of government.
While it was said that Singh Durbar, the government seat, would reach the villages, the trend of young people going abroad has not stopped since there is no possibility of employment locally. In search of work, the common people of Karnali continue to go to 'Kalapahad'. Devilal Rawat of Sinja Rural Municipality-6 of Jumla also went to India to work.
Bunkala Rawat, a local weaver, said that two dozen youths of the village left home with Rawat on the same day. "Nowadays, there are few houses where men can be found in our Sinja Rural Municipality," said Mission Budha of Sinja-4.
There are 441 households living in the Sinja-6 ward alone. Lal Bahadur Budha, ward chairman of Sinja-6, said that most of the men here go to India for labor. “At this time, there are no young people in the villages. All the men of wage labor age have gone to India,” he said, adding, “There are only women, elderly and children in the villages.”
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When men go to India in search of work, only women can be found in most of the rural households. Diuli Rokaya, a local woman, said that the men have left the village because there are no income-generating activities in the village to earn a living.
"Since there is no activity of employment and wage labor in the village, the migration of young people to India is not a desire, but a compulsion," she said.
Women are in a lot of trouble because there are no men in the village. Rokaya said, "Those who left their homes return home only from February until the beginning of the new year."
Unemployment is high in the Sinja region, which is the lowest in the poverty index. Villagers say that they are forced to enter India as there are no other means of income. So far there is not a single industry or factory here. Neither is there any project to provide employment to local people there.
Locals have not been able to make themselves professional as no technology has been implemented for commercial farming in the agricultural sector. "When there is no work in the village, there is no other option than to migrate," said Bisan Budha adding, "to keep the young people who can work in the village, there is a need for professional skills and an investment environment. “
Similarly, the locals said that there is a need to advance some big project to spend the labor power of other common people in the district, which should be encouraged by teaching technology to those who are interested in farming.
After the winter season of farming and household work, the men go to different parts of India to work. "If we don't go to India and don't work, we won't have any expenses," said Hari Bahadur Budha.
He believed that it is better to take out a loan to go out of the village for two or three months than to live empty-handed.
Meanwhile, as young men and women have gone to India for work, women are often involved in development and other work in the village. Even when someone is sick in the village, no man can be found to carry them to the health facility. The youths are forced to go to Kalapahad because the local government does not see any possibility of employment in their own place. They say that the local government has not been able to create jobs.
Despite the changes in the system, there is the pain of the youth of Jumla that their daily life has not changed. There is no opportunity for employment in the village, and the youth are forced to go to India for work.
