Arghakhanchi villages fail to curb migration

All 61 wards of three municipalities and three rural municipalities in Arghakhanchi have road access and electricity. Most households have access to tap water, there are schools and health posts in major settlements, and most of the areas have telephone coverage. While rural areas of the district are getting developed, people are moving out of villages. Many homes in rural areas are empty due to migration, and homes that are occupied largely consist of children and elderly, as the youth members of the family have left for work elsewhere. Data show that 818 households officially migrated from their villages between mid-April 2020 and mid-March 2021. This number increased by 62 percent to 1,602 between mid-April 2021 and mid-March 2022. Most of the migration has occurred in Malarani Rural Municipality. Records at the civil registration section of the municipal office show that over the past 32 months, 1,124 households have migrated while 190 families have moved in. Sandhikharka Municipality has seen the lowest migration rate. A local government official said 350 families moved out and 178 families have moved in the past 32 months. In the same period, Shitganga Municipality saw migration of 897 families and arrival of 215 new ones. Likewise in Bhumikasthan, Panini, and Chhatradevi rural municipalities recorded migration of 341, 436, and 616 families respectively. Arghakhanchi’s population stood at 197,632 as per the 2011 census, but it declined to 172,000 by 2021. Local youths say political leaders have failed to create jobs at the local level to stop migration. They say political parties and their leaders talk about implementing self-employment programs during election campaigns, only to forget about it once they have been elected.

Krishna Prasad Shrestha, mayor of Sandhikharka Municipality, says that the main reason for migration is the lack of access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.

Despite having various tourist attractions such as Supa Deurali, Argha Bhagwati, Panini Tapobhumi, Khanchikot Bhagbati, Chhatra Maharah, Malarani, Narsimhasthan, and Siddheshwar, no concrete plans or programs have been put in place to promote these sites and provide income-generating activities for the local population. "Earlier villages had no road access, no electricity, and the post office was the only means of communication. People had to fetch water from community taps. Despite these challenges, villages were full of people. Now, we having everything, but people are leaving their villages," says Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, a former minister and lawmaker from Arghakhanchi. He cites subsistence farming and a lack of employment, quality education, and quality health services as the reasons for families abandoning their villages. “Development in various fields like agriculture, animal husbandry, tourism, industry and hydropower can provide job opportunities to the people and can help reduce migration,” says Rayamajhi. He suggests that all six local units in the district should prioritize the development of agriculture, industry, tourism, animal husbandry, and cash crops to curb migration. They should also create a favorable environment for local people by promoting income-generating activities, skill-based training programs, and maximizing the use of resources. Pushpa Bhusal, former deputy speaker and Nepali Congress leader, says despite implementing development projects in the district, they have failed create enough jobs and improve socio-economic conditions of the people. "Development should not be limited to infrastructure alone. Our failure to prioritize income-generating activities, self-employment and production has caused the people in the district to migrate in droves." Bhusal emphasized the importance of introducing special programs to curb migration. Arghakhanchi is one of the largest recipients of remittances in Nepal, with approximately 45,000 youths from the district working in countries such as India, Qatar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Despite the significant inflow of money, a survey conducted by Sathi Saving and Credit Cooperatives and Arghakhanchi Saving and Credit Cooperatives two years ago showed that 80 percent of the remittances received are being spent in unproductive sectors. According to Prakash Bhusal, president of Sathi Saving and Credit Cooperatives, about 40 percent of the remittances worth approximately Rs 7.5 billion that enter the district annually is used for daily essentials such as consumables, motor vehicles, fuel, clothing, and communication. Another 40 percent is spent on buying land and building homes. Bhusal says that people are using the remittance money to purchase land and construct homes in Sandhikharka, the district headquarters, and in places outside Arghakhanchi, such as Kapilvastu, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Dang, Chitwan, and Kathmandu. “Only 20 percent of the remittances are being invested in starting small businesses such as agriculture firms, hotels, groceries, taxis, and buses. But even these ventures are failing because there aren’t many people,” says Bhusal. “Vast swathes of agricultural land in many villages are not producing anything because only elderly people are left behind. Children are in cities for education and the men have gone abroad for work.”