Friday, 27 June 2025 | Gajendra Singh Negi
Panchayat fiasco
The judicial intervention in the process of the elections of the three tier Panchayati Raj system in the 12 districts of the State (barring Haridwar) has not only embarrassed the Pushkar Singh Dhami government but has laid bare the highest degree of administrative failure and sloppiness of the bureaucracy. The High Court was left with no option but to order stay on the election process when it came to the light that the new reservation regulation on the basis of which the government decided the reservation status of the posts of Pradhans, member block Panchayat and member district Panchayat was not notified in the official gazette. The Court is now also looking into the propriety of tampering with the ongoing reservation roster of the SC and ST in the Panchayat elections along with the OBC roster which was necessitated in the wake of the findings of the dedicated commission. The process of the Panchayat elections in the State is already delayed by more than eight months and at present these bodies are headless which do not augur well for the grass root democracy and its institutions.
Dynamic officer
The decision of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to hand over the reins of the Tourism department to Dhiraj Singh Garbiyal has enthused those associated with this key sector in the State. The change in guard has started having its effect with Garbiyal presenting his roadmap for giving a fillip to the tourism activities in the State. He has also selected the grey areas and has emphasised on augmenting the income of the people associated with the sector in the State by adopting an integrated approach by involving Agriculture, Horticulture and Skill Development departments. The energetic officer has initially focussed on the Char Dham Yatra route with a plan to encourage all villagers having houses on the Yatra route to develop at least one room as home stay. Garbyal’s past record in promoting tourism in Nainital, Pithoragarh and Pauri districts shows that the enthusiasm of all stakeholders of the Tourism sector in the State is not unfounded.
Adopting villages
The directive of the chief secretary Anand Bardhan for 40 senior IAS officers to adopt one village each in the area of their first posting is appreciable. The initiative comes in the backdrop of success of a similar effort by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in Sarkot village located in Gairsain, the summer capital of the State. After being adopted by the CM, the district administration is proactively bringing government schemes in dairy development, horticulture, Mushroom cultivation, floriculture and agriculture on ground in Sarkot for the benefit of the villagers. After adopting villages, these senior IAS officers will prepare a comprehensive development plan for the villages and ensure optimum utilisation of resources from district plan, State sector, Finance commission and CSR funds. One hopes that the initiative will prove to be a success and will not meet the fate similar to the villages adopted by the Members of Parliament from the State.
