Look for green pastures by youths leaving old age parents secluded in Himachal towns

Palampur: Lack of job opportunities in Himachal Pradesh has forced thousand of youth to move out in search of jobs in other states leaving behind their aged parents. It has become a compulsion of young boys and girls of this hill state to leave their homes in search of jobs particularly in IT and computer industry which has no net work here.

A survey conducted by a local social organization “Save Palampur”, it was revealed that in educated families every third parents were living alone as their sons or daughters had been serving in cities like Bombay, Banglore, Ahemadabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad or Gurgaon. In ten percent cases children are also serving aboard.

Mrs. Neelam Sood who conducted the survey on behalf of organization interacted with more than one hundred such parents in Kangra, Mandi and Hamirpur districts of the state. She was told that parents had no other option except to send their children outside state for study as well as for jobs because of the fact that Himachal Pradesh had neither any major industry nor IT parks where the youths of the state could get jobs.

Situation in rural areas was quite alarming as most of the parents were scared, they were growing older, feeling insecure , there was no medical aid worth the name, and there would be none to look after them after few years. Deteriorating law and order situation, increasing incidents of theft and robbery had further made the matter worse. There are instances where old people were robbed off their valuables.

An old couple sitting in veranda outside his house near Palampur told that their son time and again requested both of them to leave the Palampur and move to USA but it was very difficult for them to leave the old ancestral house where they spent their whole life, if they shift to USA they have to live in isolation there as son and daughter-in-law both are in job in New York and come back home in late hours. They do not have any company there, it would reduce their life span, they added. Same was the problems with many other parents who interacted with “Save Palampur.”

During survey it was revealed that ten thousand more youths from Himachal Pradesh are likely to join IT and computer industry in next two years, this way another ten thousand parents had to live alone and there would be no hope that in future that their children would come back to home state and get jobs.

It would be worthwhile to mention here that there is no old age homes in Himachal Pradesh. After few years, there would be none to take care of these old parents. Though organizations like Rotary had come forward and set up homes for old and aged couple but in coming days Rotary would not be able to cope with the situation. State government should initiate timely action and encourage some private and charitable organizations to set up old age homes so that old and aged people could be helped in better way.

Despite the fact that present government time and again and announced that state would set up IT parks but all in vain. The industry which was allowed to come up in the state by the government had caused wide spread damage to its environment and had caused pollution. Most of the areas like Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh where some big units were established had turned into slums. The units set up here have been emitting large-scale pollution, dust and smoke causing inconvenience to local residents; there lives had virtually become hell.

It is on record that so far the state government had no priority to set up eco friendly industry in the state. Despite the fact that union government had given special incentives for the setting up of industries in the state but the present state government had failed to establish IT parks here. It is a question being asked here, why government was discouraging such units to come up in the state and preferring installation of cement plants and power projects which were causing large scale erosion and land slides damaging our roads, water supply and irrigation system.

Neelam Sood