Focus on socio-economic progress, youth empowerment in hills

Air and water, two critical inputs for survival of living creatures, cannot be taken for granted anymore. In towns and cities even vegetation is struggling to breathe because of carbon and dust. In the Uttarakhand Himalayas, natural beauty and pure air are available in abundance for anyone to enjoy though numerous water resources have disappeared. 

My native village Mawra in Ranikhet tehsil of Almora district was once a bustling place with many perennial water sources but today most of them have dried up. There has been a lot of human interference with nature in the name of development but still villages in Uttarakhand have been deserted, primarily due to migration of youths to urban areas in search of employment. The government, instead of urbanization alone, should focus more on generating socio-economic developmental activities and youth empowerment in hill villages. It should also sincerely work to resolve the problems of hill villagers such as wild animal menace that force them to leave their native places. The Uttarakhand economy is primarily dependent on tourism and the government should encourage villagers in hilly areas to take up village tourism and cultivation of herbs and aromatic plants.

Cost of forest fires   

For the past few years, uncontrolled burning of fallen needles of pine trees and undergrowth in forests have assumed a frightening scale. Wildlife is denied its already scarce fodder, food and prey. The smoke from fires is not only posing health hazards to human life but also spoiling the natural beauty of mountains. Snow views of the Himalayan ranges and greenery, which were the main attractions for tourists in Uttarakhand hills, are fading. Forest fires in Uttarakhand this year have discouraged many tourists from coming here. 

There have been claims about the government incentivizing collection of pine needles to compress them as bricks for power generation. However, it has been learnt that it is uneconomical to collect pine needles, bring the load to road heads and transport it to consumption destinations. But the cost of forest fires to the environment, wildlife, vegetation and health is much higher than the economic cost of pine needle collection and its transportation. If it is so worthwhile, the government could organise and encourage the activity under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act  (MNREGA). It can subsidize the cost of collection and transportation to engage villagers in a livelihood opportunity. This will not only save hills from fires but also utilise a valuable resource.

Wild animal menace

Wild animals such as monkeys, boars, leopards and neelgai are frequenting villages and destroying crops, forcing villagers to give up farming. Government agencies are fully aware of the ground reality but have failed to help hapless villagers. This is indeed a catch-22 situation for villagers. The government needs to act fast.

No doubt electricity and roads have reached large parts of Uttarakhand barring villages in remote hilltops or inaccessible areas. But there has been no success story worth mentioning where a village has seen sustainable socio-economic development. Youth migration to urban clusters in search of employment is a real concern.

Integrated rural development

The government should work towards integrated village development based on watershed management. Such projects may not require huge financial resources. Residents of all villages coming under such a project can be mobilized to work in a cooperative framework to promote water conservation, cultivation of herbal, aromatic and ayurvedic plants, dairy farming, holistic health and wellness activities to create a sustainable size of economy. The project can be designed to promote village tourism and create large water bodies along rivers by pushing boulders lying in them to create temporary bunds. The village youths need to be trained to run all these facilities.

The Mawra Gramvikas Sanstha (MAGRAS) is a registered body of Mawra village under the Societies Act. It has spent lakhs of rupees in the past one decade in putting together a pilot model but unless there is development in the whole cluster of villages along the watershed, there cannot be a sustainable size of economy for meaningful sustainable socio-economic development of the area. Government apathy is killing all such initiatives by several well-meaning successful entrepreneurs interested in giving back to their native villages. 

Successive state governments of the Congress and the BJP have not been able to utilize the potential of the majestic Char Dham shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, the two main rivers Ganga and Yamuna and other holy places such as Haridwar and Rishikesh to initiate village-level socio-economic developmental activities. 

Village tourism

Simplicity of villagers, traditional culture and cuisine, clean and organic nature of village life attract tourists who want to spend a few days away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Exposure to un-spoilt village life also teaches them the advantages of a simple and yet healthy happy lifestyle. Village tourism provides an opportunity to the youth to interact with diverse people and learn from them. 

Yoga and Ayurved sciences are part of our Vedic heritage that were practised and perfected by Yogis in their Himalayan abodes. The Mahavatar Baba Kriya Yog legacy mentioned in Paramhansa Yogananda ji’s book titled “Autobiography of a Yogi” is connected with Ranikhet. Devotees flock to  the nearby Dunagiri hill to see Mahavatar Babaji’s cave. It was widely reported last year after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's televised chat with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he and Microsoft chief Bill Gates had got inspiration from Neem Karori Baba. His Kainchidham Ashram near Bhowali in Nainital district was flooded by TV reporters after this news. 

The government can take cues from Acharya Sriram Sharmaji’s writings of personal encounters in the Himalayas and Swami Ram’s book “Encounters with Himalayan Masters” to make use of invaluable treasures in promoting Himalayan destinations and link these with village tourism. The state has all resources to build an environment-friendly and high return yielding village tourism industry. 

Water shortage

Shortage of water supply during peak tourism months of May and June and organic produce such as milk, vegetables and fruits in villages is a major challenge in promoting village tourism. The government can play a crucial role by facilitating villagers in taking up such initiatives. There is also need to start a campaign to recharge aquifers in the Himalayas. 

The Tehri dam lake has been a major contributor to environment protection and groundwater recharging. All rain-fed rivers of Uttarakhand should be converted into a series of one to two metre depth lakes at every one kilometre to promote groundwater recharging and enrsuring environmental balance. Water bodies play an important role in humidity regulation. Likewise, rainwater should be diverted to farm terraces along hill slopes to promote subsoil water recharging. There is need to increase forest cover under broadleaves such as oaks in place of chir pine.  

Regulatory hurdles

The state Tourism Department has sought to regulate village tourism activities by putting all kinds of regulatory disincentives. An illiterate or semi-literate villager, who wishes to spare a room in his or her dwelling for village tourism, finds it difficult to go to district offices to get clearances and approvals. Let table-wise bureaucrats not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. 

Regulating standards are desirable but the onus should be on government functionaries to visit villages and help villagers acquire minimum standards. Gram pradhans and block development officers should be made responsible to ensure that all villagers, notably women, are provided all regulatory clearances on their doorsteps to encourage them to undertake village tourism activities.

Youth empowerment

Students of government inter colleges in hills should be given short courses in diverse self-employment generation skills. These could include village tourism, cultivation of indigenous herbal and aromatic plants, floriculture, organic farming and dairy production, water and environment conservation, computer and English language skills, health and hygiene, naturopathy, yoga and ayurveda therapies for health and wellness tourism. Some corporate houses are interested in adopting villages and employ manpower found promising from such skills development training programmes. There is no better high-return industry for the hills than village tourism.

Corrective measures

• Devise permanent solutions to forest fires that destroy precious green cover, harm health and affect tourism.
• Wild animal entering villages and destroying standing crops is a serious issue that is forcing villagers to leave agriculture.
• Organise villages in a cluster in a cooperative framework. Encourage villagers to take up tourism activities, dairy farming,  cultivation of aromatic, herbal and ayurvedic plants, holistic health and wellness activities.
• Promote village tourism by facilitating villagers who may need help to build necessary infrastructure.
• Ensure adequate supply of water during peak tourism months and organic produce such as milk, vegetables and fruits in villages. The government can help villagers who want to take initiatives in this direction. 
• The Tourism Department needs to facilitate village tourism by removing regulatory problems. Officials should visit villages to ensure compliance and maintenance of necessary standards.
• Train college students in villages in diverse self-employment generation skills such as water and environment conservation, computer and English language skills, health and hygiene, naturopathy, yoga and ayurveda therapies for health.
• Create small lakes along rain-fed rivers to promote groundwater recharging and maintaining environmental balance. Increase forest cover under broadleaves such as oaks in place of chir pine.