In a land synonymous with lush greenery, enchanting valleys and meandering rivers, the tribals of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada have to choose between leaving in search of a livelihood or staying back amid lack of opportunities. For them, the picturesque district of the state has become a land of despair.
In a state where employment is hard to come by, the tribals are forced to leave, only to come back with debilitating illnesses or not return at all.
The Road To Livelihood Often Ends With Tragedy
A young tribal woman Sundari migrated to Hyderabad, hoping to earn Rs 12,000 a month in a stone-crushing factory. “We crushed stones, extracted sand and packed it into sacks. Six of us from the village went, including a young girl who convinced us it would be worth it,” she said. Instead, she came back home with severe lung diseases caused by the factory’s hazardous conditions.
Lakshmi thought the Rs 15,000 per month work offer would transform her life. She has been sick for two years now, barely able to breathe and is fighting for survival.
A 29-member group migrated to Hyderabad to work at a powder factory. Between March 2023 and March 2024, four of them, all young men aged between 21 and 25 years, died within months of returning to Bastar. By December last year, eight of them were suffering from respiratory ailments and were referred from Dantewada to Mekahara Hospital in Raipur.
Among the dead was 23-year-old Sona, whose brother said, “He came back very sick. The powder had entered his entire body. Despite treatment, he didn’t survive.”
The Real Malady: Unemployment And Neglect
From the Kutrem village alone, over 20 young men and women have migrated in the past two years. Most returned ill, with several losing their lives. The deaths point to a migration crisis that plagues Bastar amid the absence of sustainable local employment. A villager Joga Kunjam explained, “There is no work in the village. What else can we do but leave?”
The Chhattisgarh government claims that migration has reduced significantly. While only nine migrants from Dantewada are recorded in government data, local estimates suggest over 10 lakh laborers from the state migrate annually.
The culprit? Systemic issues. Ramnath Negi, a social worker in Dantewada, points to the role of brokers and human traffickers. “They lure tribals with promises of high-paying jobs but exploit them in dangerous conditions. Local workers refuse such jobs because they know the risks,” he said.
Once labelled a “blot on Chhattisgarh’s forehead”, migration is now a malady in the district that is ironically the state’s richest, with over Rs 500 crore derived from its mineral fund alone. The benefits rarely reach the tribals, who are faced with malnutrition and lack of basic amenities. The state labour minister Lakhan Lal Dewangan has appealed to tribals not to migrate. But in the absence of employment, healthcare and basic amenities, the question is what will cause them to stop?
