DEHRADUN: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's native Ghiri village in Uttarakhand is plagued by migration as only 30 families are left there in comparison to 150.
Ajay Bobhal, the village pradhan, said, "Migration has forced people to leave their native place in search of a better life. Lack of proper health, education, and employment have reduced the population to 20% of what it used to be a few decades ago. The nearest government health facility is located 16 km away from the village in Lvali and another one is 25kms in Kotkhal."
Doval, who studied in the government primary school of the village, moved to Ajmer for his further studies.
The data by Uttarakhand State Rural Development and Migration Commission (SRDMC) points out a positive growth rate in the population in districts of Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, and Haridwar. However, the mountain districts of Pauri, Almora, Tehri, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Pithoragarh are seeing a negative rate of decadal increase in the population.
According to the commission set up by CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, the hill state has around 700 ghost villages. The data by the commission released in 2018 also pointed out that more than 3.83 lakh people left their homes in the duration from the year 2007-17.
Around 50% of them had left in search of livelihood, according to a report released by the SRDMC in May last year.
Uttarakhand has around 16,500 villages, of which 734 have become 'Ghost Villages'.