Jagdish Patel’s home in Dingucha village. Patel and his family recently froze to death while trying to cross into the US.
Half The Population of This Gujarat Village Is Abroad
Dingucha : In Gandhinagar district’s last village on the way to Mehsana, the next best thing to finding a passage to the US or Canada is apparently to become an “agent” who can get you there. Dingucha’s yardstick for success is hard to miss. Poster’s advertising “student’s visa to Canada and USA” pop up at every turn. The lure of the immigrant dream is matched by statistics.
3,200 people out of an estimated 7,000-strong population have already settled abroad.
This is the place from where, according to panchayat at records, 3,200 people out of an estimated 7,000-strong population have already settled abroad. This is also the village from where a family of four was trafficked to Canada just a couple of weeks ago, only to tragically freeze to death near the US border crossing after walking for 11 hours in -35 degrees Celsius.
Half of our people are either in the US, Canada or the UK.
Growing up in Dingucha, kids are hard wired into thinking there are two roads to a life of comfort. Elders tell them repeatedly that they should either aspire to be the first world citizenship or become an agent catering to the growing demand for “immigration services” within the village and beyond. Kanu Patel, a farmer seemingly left behind in the race, said his parents, elder brother, sister-in-law and their two kids moved to Pennsylvania in the US around six years ago. “Half of our people are either in the US, Canada or the UK. There are international travel agents in every lane now. They have links with bigger agents in Delhi and Mumbai, besides contacts in countries like the US and Canada.”
A resident who works as an agent in Kalol said his family visited the US about 10 years ago, giving him an in- sight into “how the entire system works”. He claims to have helped many settles in the US since, building a business that he hopes will enable him to someday hop onto the NRI bandwagon himself.
If nothing works out in the US or Canada, then Australia it is.
Panchayat accountant Jayesh Chaudhary said the moment students clear the school board exams, they begin preparing to enrol for some course in the US or Canada. “There is this sense of desperation to move out. If nothing works out in the US or Canada, then Australia it is. Some of those who succeed in making a life abroad do return for winter vacation and contribute towards the development of the village.”
While almost half Dingucha is now abroad, the village wears the signs of acquired prosperity The roads are paved and there are two large schools, besides hospitals, community halls and banks. “All this has been possible because those who left for foreign shores have con tributed to the village’s progress,” Chaudhary said.
Source : Bharat Yagnik & Ashish Chauhan (The times of India)
