DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday justified taking action to keep a check on the ‘demographic changes’ in the local population, saying that the steps were meant to safeguard the people of the state.
The government must have record of those arriving from outside without any paperwork, he added. “It is not wrong to keep vigil and remain alert. The government must have information about the people coming from outside for work and staying in the state.”
Last week, the Uttarakhand government citing increase in population in certain areas which is causing ‘demographic change’ resulting into ‘migration of some communities from those areas’, issued directions to take steps for finding a ‘solution of the problem’. There is also an apprehension of disturbance in communal harmony, a government release said. It, however, did not name any community.
Of the 13 districts in Uttarakhand, at least five reported either change in demography at some level or increase in population of a certain community, including those from Nepal. Authorities said the population of a community has reached 37.39% of the total population in Haridwar. “Jwalapur, Bahadarabad, Saray, Sitapur, Ferupur, Sultanpur, Roshanabad and various other localities have registered growth in the population of a community,” said an official. In border areas of Pithoragarh and Champawat, manual labourers from Nepal were found in substantial numbers.