BJP MP aims to bring back residents in ghost villages of Uttarakhand

Hope has emerged for hundreds of Uttarakhand's ghost villages, called so as they have become empty after their residents left them, as BJP MP Anil Baluni has launched a pilot project to repopulate one such village in Pauri Garhwal district.

In a statement, Baluni said a programme to bring back residents of these villages has been prepared and he will work to provide power, water, road and employment in Baur village, which he has adopted.

The problem of migration has acquired dangerous dimensions as one village after another is turning empty, and the state's great culture is on the verge of extinction, he said.

"This effort to repopulate these uninhabited villages will prove to be a milestone for Uttarakhand," he said, adding that many youngsters who left for work will be given alternative employment so as to cause reverse migration and revive the village.

The parliamentarian will visit migrant families living in different parts of the country and also hold talks with associations representing them so that their concerns can be addressed and they persuaded to go back to their villages.

Calling the measure historic, Baluni, who presented the hill state in the Rajya Sabha, such an effort to revive these villages has never been made earlier.

A recent official report had said that the number of uninhabited villages in the state has shot up to 1,768 from 1,034, recorded in the 2011 Census.

Poor infrastructure, difficult living conditions and lack of employment have been cited as among the reasons for the mass migration.