If you’re looking for some easy money, head to Europe! The Molise region of Italy has offered to pay people roughly 1,938,500 INR (27,000 USD) to settle here and bring it back to life. Here’s all we know. By Bayar Jain
Rural Italian communities are facing a population drain, with community sizes dwindling at a fast pace. More lands are becoming increasingly barren and are under the risk of disappearing completely. Hoping to avert this crises, numerous villages from the northern Alps all they way to the southern vineyards of Sicily have sought to award homes to anyone willing to renovate and live in them. The quaint region of Molise, however, have gone the extra mile. Molise hopes to lure people by offering them money to move in.
“I want my region to undergo a renaissance and avoid its authentic villages turning into ghost towns,” Antonio Tedeschi, a regional counsellor who developed this idea. With this goal in mind, this rugged area situated to the east of Rome has offered to pay people roughly 1,938,500 INR (27,000 USD) to set up camp here. According to the plan devised, the region will provide approximately 55,276 INR (770 USD) every month for a total duration of three years. The new residents will be expected to repopulate the green pastures and kickstart new businesses to revamp the local economy.
Currently, the total population of Molise is 305,000. This is less than half the total population of Sikkim – the least populated state in India! According to official statistics, the number of people living in this area which is famous for olive groves and its snow-covered mountains has decreased by roughly 9,000 since 2014, making it one of the nation’s most underpopulated region. Notably, 106 villages of the total 136 villages in Italy have fewer than 2,000 residents.
Other villages looking to attract new residents include Fornelli, Pesche, Campitello, Capracotta, Pietrabbondante, Sepino, San Giovanni, Castel San Vincenzo, Riccia and Duronia.
Related: Puglia In Italy: You Probably Didn’t Explore This Side Of The Country
