As the paddy plantation season ends, hundreds of people from Bajura have begun leaving for India to seek employment after completing this year’s paddy transplantation.
Large numbers of young men and women are travelling to various Indian cities for work, leading to long queues of Nepali migrant workers at border points between Nepal and India.
“I returned home in May to help with the paddy plantation. Now that the planting season is over, I am heading back to India for work there,” said Arjun Rokaya of Budhinanda Municipality-3.
“Everyone wants to live in their own village, but there are no jobs here. We cannot survive without an income, so we have no option but to go to India,” he said.
Rokaya said he returns home every Asar (mid-June to mid-July) for rice cultivation, leaves for India during mid-July to mid-August to earn money, and comes back again in mid-September to mid-October to harvest the crops.
Seasonal migration to India during mid-June/July and again in early November and early December has long been a tradition in Bajura. The practice is not limited to the younger generation, as earlier generations also travelled to India in search of employment.
“In the past, villages lacked roads, schools and health facilities. Many people travelled to India for medical treatment and stayed on to earn a living. Although infrastructure has improved over the years, the flow of migrant workers has not stopped,” locals said.
Unlike in the past, when mostly men migrated while women remained in the villages, entire families are now moving to India. With parents leaving for work and children studying in towns and cities, many villages have become increasingly deserted. Khamma Sarki of Badeda in Budhiganga Municipality-10 said he was taking his entire family to India because it had become impossible to make a living in the village.
“There is no irrigation for farming. We depend entirely on rainfall, and even the crops we grow are damaged by monkeys. We have no choice but to leave,” he said.
Young people from Budhiganga, Triveni, Khaptad Chhededaha, Gaumul, Badimalika, Budhinanda, Swamikartik, Jagannath and Himali municipalities are among those heading to India after completing paddy plantation.
Locals said municipal governments announce agricultural programmes each year aimed at creating employment opportunities, but the initiatives rarely reach those who need them most. As a result, many young people continue to seek work abroad.
