Joint Forest Management for Decline off Villagers Migration Problem: A Case Study of Three Villages of Central India

Through migration human being move from one place to another place in pursuit of certain cherished objectives like avenues of better employment, better wages, better working and living conditions, better quality of life and better livelihood. Migration is a problem across the Central India but the worst hit part is Chhattisgarh state from where every year at least 500, 000 people migrated to other states for meager daily wages - as laborers at brick kilns or as any alternative source of income domestic helps. Joint Forest Management (JFM) is a collaborative management regime, initiated by the Ministry of Environment of Forests, Government of India in the 1990s building a partnership with the local communities for rehabilitation of the degraded forests, with emphasis on protection, management and development of the forest resources by the tribal communities and the women, following guidelines of the National Forest Policy in 1988. Migration of villagers could be controlled if some sort of alternative income source could be generated in their village. In the three villages of Central India which were previously severely suffered by migration problem but after the implementation of joint forest management programme situation has been changed gradually. The present paper assesses the social and economic situation of people living in Chhattisgarh and the factors responsible for their migration to other areas in search of better livelihood and better quality of life. The study therefore, presents some suggestions in tune with the future demands so as to solve the migration problems of Chhattisgarh.