Wednesday, 01 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
A day after it became clear that the budget session of Uttarakhand Assembly would not be held at Gairsain, a sense of dejection prevails in Diwalikhal, a beautiful hamlet surrounded by dense forest of oak trees located at an altitude of about 8,000 feet above sea level in Chamoli district . The shopkeepers of this village had stockpiled their shops in anticipation of a bumper business during the budget session in Gairsain. The petty shopkeepers and small contractors of nearby Bharadisain, Gairsain, Junglechatti, Simali and Karnprayag are also dejected by the Uttarakhand government’s volte face on hosting Assembly session in Gairsain, the summer capital of Uttarakhand.
Harish Negi who runs a small provision store near the helipad in Bharadisain told The Pioneer that he was happy when he learnt that the session would be held in Gairsain after which he purchased many things especially eatables like biscuits, namkeen and other things. “ The employees and workers who are deployed in the session purchase these things from shopkeepers like us but now the government has decided not to hold the session here,’’ he said.
Negi said that he set up the shop in the year 2018 and when former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat gave Gairsain the status of summer capital, he and others were elated at the prospects of development of the area but unfortunately nothing has happened so far.
Similar views were echoed by Sunil Kumar who owns a small shop in Diwalikhal. He said that the excuse of Char Dham Yatra for not holding sessions in Gairsain is flimsy and the real reason is reluctance of the officers who are more comfortable in the session in Dehradun.
Praveen Singh, an activist for Gairsain as permanent capital movement said that Uttarakhand was created to fulfill regional aspirations of people of mountainous areas but it appears that in the last 22 years the leadership of the state has failed to develop a connection with people. “ When the leaders who are elected from the mountainous areas are also not keen to hold the session in Gairsain or give it status of capital in the real sense, then one can understand the pathetic situation which prevails here,’’ he said.
It is worth mentioning here that the state government had earlier planned to hold the budget session in Gairsain from June 7 but on Monday it changed its plan and has now requested that the session should be held in Dehradun from June 14.
