Exodus From India's Border Areas ‘A Worry'

Lawmakers say villagers who migrate for better facilities leaving areas open to invasion

- Nirmala Ganapathy

Legislators in the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh are trying to curb migration from villages near the border with China, warning that a thinning population poses a serious security challenge for New Delhi.

Nearly half a dozen legislators representing border areas have formed a forum to highlight the security risks of continued migration and push for an increase in federal funds to improve infrastructure in the area at a time of heightened tensions between India and China.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a more than 1,080km border with China and the state is claimed in its entirety as a part of Tibet by China.

A 2005 census found there were 1,555 villages with a population of about 2.71 million people living in the border areas.

But legislators said the numbers have likely fallen as people living in the villages moved out due to poor telecommunication services, lack of access to the Internet, weak connectivity as well as education and healthcare facilities.