PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Rajdhani Gairsain Samiti (RGS) on Tuesday has announced a fresh phase of its agitation demanding that Gairsain be declared the permanent capital of Uttarakhand. The committee will organise a mass mundan programme outside the Vidhan Sabha at 9 AM on August 13, followed by a Dehradun-Gairsain march from the Assembly premises at 9:30 AM on August 15.
The agitation has intensified after protests in Delhi, Dehradun, Karnaprayag, Chaukhutia and Rudraprayag, besides a relay hunger strike of more than 100 days at the protest site in Dehradun.
Committee chief convenor and former IAS officer Vinod Prasad Raturi said that the protest would continue until Gairsain is declared the permanent capital. He said that the movement was linked to the identity and interests of the people of Uttarakhand and accused successive governments of delaying the issue.
As part of the next phase, he said that the mass head-shaving on August 13 would symbolise its resolve and protest against the government. The Dehradun-Gairsain Maha Padyatra will then begin from outside the Assembly at 9:30 AM on August 15, with the committee describing it as a major escalation of its campaign, Rautri said.
