Outmigration Saps Nepal’s Vitality

This year’s Dashain saw fewer number of people going to their home districts, as roads and highways were destroyed and blocked by the monsoon-induced floods and landslides, particularly in the east and central Nepal. The transport entrepreneurs said that around 1.3 million people went to their home districts to celebrate Dashain. However, 1.8 million were expected to depart from the valley for the purpose. With a significant number of people coming to their villages and cities after a long interval, their parents and other family members naturally became joyous. Their presence really brings an aura of Dashain in the locality.

Those who are living in rented rooms or their own houses in the valley, prefer to visit their parents or relatives during Dashain, the biggest festival of Nepalis. The visitors feel they will not enjoy the festival in the valley in same degree as with their parents in the villages and towns where they were born or spent their childhood. The parental homes give them a sense of belonging and déjà vu of yesteryears. Thus, movements of people during the Dashain conspicuously bring forth the vibrant dynamics of Nepali society, nurturing warm reunion and bond among the family members.

Social character 

But this distinct social character is likely to gradually fade away in coming decades, thanks to in- and out-migration taking place at an alarming rate. The country’s demographic pattern has undergone a drastic change. The people are migrating to the nearby towns, capital cities and foreign countries where facilities are concentrated and opportunities galore. Imagine a scenario of coming decades. The parents, who get elated upon the arrival of their descendants at home, are now probably running in their 60s or 70s. These elderly may not live on after one decade or two. And their offspring become the parents of their grown-up wards. A trend of leaving country among youths for higher studies or lucrative jobs abroad might deprive many aging parents of love and emotional attachment with their offspring.

Human beings are on the constant move since the advent of civilisations. They are always in search for improved livelihoods, abundant resources and opportunities so that they live a decent, prosperous and happy life. When the places they are living in become inappropriate and inimical, they abandon them by reason of the survival and security imperatives. As the new destinations offer them better prospects of living, the old sites wear a deserted look. In the new cities or countries, the arrivals struggle to acclimatise to new environment as well as also reel from the cultural shocks and identity crisis in the long run. In the out-migration of people, their communities lose members and the nation the citizens though the migrated families benefit from their cross-country movements.

The exodus from rural areas to urban centres and then abroad is taking place at a time when the nation’s population is declining. According to the 2021 census, the population growth rate fell to 0.93 per cent from 1.34 per cent in 2011, which is the lowest in eight decades. Reduction in fertility rate, the large number of absentee population, increase in literacy rate, especially among women, rising cost of child-raising and delayed marriage, among others, have been attributed to the decrease in population.  Undoubtedly, outmigration of active people is a dominant factor for this situation. It is estimated that around six million Nepalis live in different nations for job and study.  

The government’s latest data states that around 1,700 Nepalis leave the country daily to work, study or permanently settle there. Most of students going abroad for study reside there and do not return here in the absence of quality education, dignified employment, social security and conducive entrepreneurship atmosphere. In the first six months of current fiscal year, 51,000 students have obtained No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to study abroad. In the last 16 years, the Ministry of Education issued altogether 646,196 NOCs, which indicates that the number of students securing NOCs is increasing.

Unique phenomenon 

Outmigration is a strange phenomenon in which people happily give up their citizenships and embrace alien nationality and values for the sake of better life and secure future of their posterity. This implies the primacy of employment, income and happy living over nationality. If one looks at the history of Khas Aryans that include various castes and form the largest segment of Nepal’s population, they are often in motion. It is believed that they entered west Nepal from the west and central Asia more than 3,500 years ago. Then, they spread throughout Himavatkhanda and established their states in different places in the ancient and medieval periods. They mostly lived in the hills, and shifted to the plains in search of better agriculture prospects over the years. 

Today the descendants of Khas Aryans are impelled to leave their native land in pursuit of enhanced livelihood and study opportunities in foreign countries. The emptying out of rural areas and the accompanying brain drain will not only stagnate our economy but one day this will also pose a threat to the existence of Nepali state. Because energetic and patriotic population is essential for the sustainable economy, creation of vibrant society and protection of national sovereignty. Of course, globalisation has become an unstoppable force, spurring the movements of people, goods, capital, ideas and technology across the world. But the poor countries like Nepal lack apt political strategy and economic wherewithal to deal with or adapt to the process of globalisation. The inability to tackle internal demographic challenges and indigenise imported ideas will eventually hollow out the nation.

 (The author is deputy Executive Editor of this daily.)

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