Congress members raise issue of corruption & lack of health services in mountainous areas of the State
PNS | DEHRADUN
Paving the way for a stringent land law in the State, the Vidhan Sabha passed the Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh Zamindari abolition and land reforms act 1950) amendment bill- 2025 by a voice vote on Friday. Taking part in the discussion on the bill, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the objective of the state government to table the bill is to preserve the unique identity of the State. He said that the government has held elaborate interactions with different stakeholders before drafting the stringent land laws. Dhami said that the State government had set up a committee headed by former chief secretary Subhash Kumar on the issue. The CM added that the State government has not included Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar district from the purview of the new law due to their geographical conditions and economic considerations. He appealed to the house to pass the proposed bill in the interest of the State.
The leader of opposition, Yashpal Arya said that the government was forced to bring in the bill due to public pressure. Citing many discrepancies in the new bill he demanded that it should be handed over to the select committee of the Vidhan Sabha which should submit its report to the speaker in a period of one month.
The Congress members also raised the issues of corruption and lack of medical services in the mountainous parts of the State in the house during zero hour on the day.
As soon as the proceedings of the day started, the leader of opposition Yashpal Arya requested the speaker Ritu Khanduri to allow discussion on corruption under rule 310. The speaker rejected the request but allowed discussion on the subject under rule 58. Later initiating the discussion, the LoP Arya said that corruption is rampant in the State. He said that the two former chief ministers of BJP Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat had expressed deep concern on corruption in the State on different occasions. Former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat had raised the issue of illegal mining in Haridwar district in parliament. He said that the court commissioner in his report on Chalk (khadia) mining in Bageshwar had said that the SDM had threatened the complainant and an effort was made to bribe (court commissioner) him by the mining mafia.
Arya added that the State government has handed over the task of levying tax on the river bed materials (RBM) in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts to a Hyderabad based private company. He added that the CAG in its report had indicted different departments of government for failing to recover Rs 1,386 crore as penalties in the mining sector. The LoP claimed that the 143 acres of land in George Everest areas near Mussoorie was given by Uttarakhand Tourism development board (UTDB) to a private company at an annual lease of Rs one crore only. He said that the price of this land at circle rates is about Rs 2,700 crores. Arya further claimed that the UTDB has taken a loan of Rs 20 crore to develop this land which was later handed over to a private player.
In his response, the Parliamentary Affairs minister Premchand Agarwal refuted the charges of corruption and said that the vigilance department has arrested 11 gazetted officers and 66 non gazetted employees in corruption cases. Agarwal said that the UTDB has given the land in George Everest in Mussoorie for adventure activities and not handed over its ownership.
Speaking on health services under rule 58, the Chakarata MLA Pritam Singh said that the health services are virtually non-existent in the mountainous areas of the State. In his response the Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that only 276 posts of doctors are vacant in the health services. He however accepted that posts of specialist doctors are vacant but claimed that they will also be filled in the next three years.
