PITHORAGARH: Vikram Singh Mehta, 34, who worked at a restaurant in Mumbai before the pandemic and Dinesh Singh, 35, who worked as a driver in Panipat, returned to their native village, Matiyal in Pithoragarh, around the same time in June 2020, during the nationwide Covid-induced lockdown.
Matiyal was a ghost village when the duo returned. Seeing water sources and fertile land here, they started cultivating grains and vegetables after securing a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh under the Mukhya Mantri Swarojgar Yojana, a scheme which aims to encourage reverse migration in the hills of Uttarakhand.
