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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/08/18/stories/2009081850950200.htm)
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Orissa
  

Migration of Bondas from Malkangiri on the rise

Correspondent

Koraput: Migration of children from the Bonda villages has been on a constant rise for the last many years for the lack of proper development in the region, according to Dambarudhar Sisa, Director, Bonda Samaj Lok Sangathan of Mudulipada in Malkangiri district.
While there were at least 600 children in the age group of 12-18 working in different hotels and market places in and around Malkangiri district alone, more children and youth migrated regularly to far-off places like Hyderabad and Bangalore in search of their livelihood, he alleged.
Developmental process that was aimed at bringing changes in the lives of Bonda community had utterly failed even after special programmes were made by launching Bonda Development Agency at Mudulipada since 1979.
It was always an imposition of external inputs on the lives of the Bondas rather than a support to the inherent strength, quality and skills of the people in the community, he added.

Discrimination

Highlighting the need to consider the high level of migration and spreading of Bondas all across the district rather than being confined to specific boundaries, he said while the Census report had put the population of Bondas at only 6001, staying in 32 villages of the Upper Bonda Ghat region, it is less than 20,000 if the number of Bondas lived outside the region was taken into account.
There were at least 64 villages in the district where Bondas struggled for living their lives.
There was no difference between the Bondas living in the upper Bonda Ghat or the lower part of it.
All of them shared similar cultural and social identity apart from living in an almost equal level of poverty, he said.
However, while the government had considered only the Bondas living in the upper Ghat region under its development initiatives, it had failed to contain the massive amount of migration for the lack of irrigation facility on the hills .
On the other hand the Bondas who lived in lower Bonda Hills continued to suffer for the absence of any special schemes and benefits from the government, he said.

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