PNS | DEHRADUN
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Lansdowne, Dileep Singh Rawat attended the first day of the Vidhan Sabha budget session on Tuesday, despite his earlier statement that he will not attend if the State government fails to convene a special Assembly session to address forest regulations.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Rawat clarified that he attended the session because the governor addressed the house on the first day and he did not want to show any disrespect. He also claimed that he had never said he will boycott the session but had only indicated that he will not be able to attend if the government did not commit to holding a special session on the issue. Rawat has been raising concerns about stalled projects in his constituency, where a significant portion of the area is covered by forests. He attributes delays in development work, including road construction, to strict forest regulations.
According to him, any project that requires forest land must compensate with twice the amount of non-forest land, which must be transferred to the Forest department under current rules. This process is lengthy and bureaucratic, causing obstacles to essential projects, as per him. According to Rawat, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami verbally assured him once again that a four-hour special session will be held to address the matter. He said that if the special session is confirmed, he will continue to attend the budget session. If not, he will refrain from participating in further proceedings.
