20,000 leave Punjab every year illegally

A UN study has revealed that over 20,000 youths from Punjab attempt illegal migration to other countries every year. Many of them end up in jails and continue to languish behind bars for years.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report says 84% of such people are uneducated and opt for going abroad even at the cost of parting with their land holdings. The issue created a furore in the Punjab assembly on Friday. Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira raised it during zero hour. He said many people were being duped by travel agents.

Reacting to the report, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal assured the assembly that the state government will take up the issue with prime minister Manmohan Singh. The report, which was released in Chandigarh on Thursday by Punjab chief secretary SC Aggarwal and presented by UNODC consultant KC Saha, states that the trend is now catching up in Haryana too.

Many such migrations have been reported from Ambala, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts. Such migrations are also on the rise in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The study says while most of the earlier migrants were from Jat and Lobana castes, people from other castes are also immigrating gradually. Nearly 55% of these migrants are in the 21-30 age group.