Friday, 17 February 2023 | Gajendra Singh Negi
Walking the talk
With his cabinet endorsing the 21 point development agenda prepared by the State administration, young chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has made it amply clear to the Babudom of the Himalayan State that he believes in business and his consistent emphasis on making the State one of the leading States of the country by the year 2025 is not a mere rhetoric. The CM set the tone by holding a Chintan Shivir in the cool yet sombre environment of the LBSNAA in Mussoorie in November last year during which deliberations on preparing a roadmap of the development for the state were held. The top bureaucrats held further discussions on the points raised in the Mussoorie during their annual administrative officer’s conference in December after which 21 point agenda was prepared and presented in the cabinet. The agenda envisages simple yet effective changes in implementation of polices and focuses on employment generation, eco tourism, decongestion of cities and attracting the industries and investment. It would be interesting to note how the CM gets the new agenda implemented from the babudom which innately abhors any deviation from the set pattern they love to tread.
Conspiracy claim
Facing flak for failing to fathom the simmering anger in the youngsters over a series of question paper leaks in the recruitment examinations, the Uttarakhand police are now trying to prove the conspiracy theory correct for the student unrest in Dehradun. It is learnt that there is a section in the Police administration and other agencies that believes that the assembly of thousands of youngsters in heart of Dehradun on February 9 was not a spontaneous event and that some powerful elements were behind it. In its desperate attempt to prove the conspiracy theory, the Police even froze a bank account in Uttar Pradesh which it claimed was funding the student unrest. However it turned out that the said account created by a person to support the student movement and was circulated in some social media sites had not much money in it which has deflated the conspiracy angle.
Pauri paradox
By raising the issue of neglect of Pauri during his recent two day visit of the district, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami appeared to have hit many targets with one stone. In the visit the CM touched the raw nerve of the people of Pauri that despite being home of a galaxyof leaders and other prominent personalities, the district holds the dubious distinction of having highest migration, a testimony of which is given by numerous ghost villages dotting its landscape. Interestingly Pauri, the headquarter of the Garhwal division has not only witnessed migration of people but in absence of strong political will many important offices have been shunted out from here. The political observers point out that the neglect of Pauri barb by the CM was directed to his predecessors in the saffron party. Pertinently former CMs Trivendra Singh Rawat, Tirath Singh Rawat, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, Lieutenant General (Retd) BC Khanduri and Vijay Bahuguna belonged to Pauri. If Dhami is able to address the long standing problems of Pauri then it will show many of the illustrious sons of the district in poor light.
