Nepal

After the first local elections of federal Nepal, Khem Dahal of Chimphang in Menchchyayem Rural Municipality, Tehrathum, migrated to Itahari. His new house is in Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City-5 of Sunsari district. 

As his only son, Kabiraj Dahal, settled in Australia, he felt the need to migrate because of his increasing age. Then, he made up his mind to migrate to Itahari. Dahal was an elected representative during the Panchayat era.

''Years before, migrating to Itahari from Tehrathum, I thought it was not a good idea as people there feared mosquitoes, baking heat, and not-so-good water'', said Dahal. 

''These days, despite all these previously assumed hurdles in Nepal's plain Terai, people are migrating en mass.'' 

He has not left his physical properties including land, home, and forest in his ancestral hinterland, but left his social and political capital. 

Dahal is not the lone family of the Chimphang village to do so. Many of his immediate family circles and relatives are also doing the same. 

According to the statistics of Menchchyayem Rural Municipality 43 families of Menchchyayem Rural Municipality-2 to which Chimphang belongs to have migrated outside.

The rural municipality statistics show that 139 family members have migrated outside from the 43 families. Interesting, there is not a single family to migrate to this ward, says the rural municipality statistics. 

Binuta Gautam of Morahang village of Menchchyayem Rural Municipality has a similar story. Once a local of the Morahang, she has now turned out to be a tenant of a local homeowner in Morahang Bazar. 

She has now built her own home in Itahari. The only reason she is not leaving her ancestral village is owing to her teaching job at the local secondary school named Shree Gaukhuri Secondary School of Morahang. Her only son and daughter-in-law are also living in her village. 
That is also owing to their jobs there.

''It is not inner interest to sell our ancestral property in our ancestral village and move out for Terai. We have a love for our ancestral land and property,'' said Binuta Gautam. ''Many factors are at play to come to this conclusion.'' 

Binuta Gautam's official migration to Itahari from Morahang village of Menchchyayem Rural Municipality of Tehrathum is not the standout case. 

Many of her neighbours and other families of her relative circles have also migrated to various urban centres and parts of eastern Terai including Dharan, Itahari, Biratnagar, Damak, and Urlabari, among others. 

The migration statistics of Menchchyayem Rural Municipality showed that 51 families have migrated outside of ward number-5 of which Morahang is also a part. 

Of the 51 families, 159 family members have migrated outside, says the local government statistics. 

Rural Municipality statistics show rapid outmigration

Chimphang and Morahang are just two examples of the rapid scale of outmigration in the Menchchyayem Rural Municipality, which borders Sankhuwasabha and Taplejung districts together along with two other local bodies of Tehrathum –  Myanglung Municipality and Phedap Rural Municipality. 

In the last six years, 244 families from all 6 wards of the rural municipality have migrated outside. These 244 families do have 730 family members as registered in the local government, according to the IT Officer of the Menchchyayem Rural Municipality Ishor Bhattarai.

Out of six wards of the rural municipality, ward number 5 has seen the highest level of outmigration.159 members of 51 families have migrated outside in the last six years from the ward, said Bhattarai.

According to locals, this figure is huge as the total population of the rural municipality is less than 8000.

Other wards with similar trends include ward number 6 where 161 family members of 46 families have migrated outside. 

Likewise, in ward number 2, A total of 43 families migrated, which include 139 family members. 43 families with 93 family members have migrated outside from ward number 4. 

Furthermore, 99 family members of 32 families of the ward number 3 have also migrated outside. 
The least outmigration is in ward number 1 where 80 family members from 29 families have migrated outside. 

There is no good migration trend to come to the rural municipality. For example, just 57 family members of 22 families have arrived in the Menchchyayem Rural Municipality in the last six years since 2074 BS. However, not a single member of any family has arrived in ward number 2. The arrival rate in the three other wards is a single digit. 

Still, the statistics are not adequate, say locals. ''This statistics does not include families already migrated but not listed officially and they still do have their padlocked homes in the village'', says Indra Bhattarai, a local of Morahang. 

''The migration trend is alarming. All three-tier of governments must devise some strong programs to pause it,” he added. 

Locals say growing trend of foreign employment, longing for better services in urban centres and lack of strong health facilities have compelled people to migrate outside their ancestral village. 
''It is not the choice to migrate outside ancestral village'', said Khem Dahal, who is in his sixties, adding, “It is a compulsion.'' 

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