PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal has said that women, students and youth played a crucial role in creation of Uttarakhand. Godiyal paid tributes to the statehood martyrs at Martyrs Memorial in Dehradun collectorate on Monday. He said that the dream of creating a separate State of Uttarakhand was realized due to the martyrdom of the Statehood movement’s martyrs. The State of Uttarakhand is the legacy of the martyred agitators who sacrificed everything for the state’s creation. He averred that the Congress will make Gairsain, the permanent capital of the State when it comes to the power in the State.
He said that the martyrs of the Mussoorie, Khatima and Muzaffarnagar firing incidents played a major role in bringing the statehood movement to fruition. Godiyal that people from all walks of life in Uttarakhand played a crucial role in the creation of the State.
He said that after the formation of the State, the first elected Congress Party government under chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari, laid the foundation for development by establishing a departmental structure and increasing the annual plan size from Rs 900 crore rupees to 5,000 crore.
“In the last 27 years, the State of Uttarakhand has seen many ups and downs. Even today, Uttarakhand faces numerous challenges. Much remains to be done to ensure the future of women and the younger generation is secure, to ease their burdens and to bring smiles to their faces. He added that two other States, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, were also created alongside Uttarakhand but our State has yet to select a permanent capital,’’ he said.
Godiyal said that the BJP government had started a wrong tradition of celebrating State Formation Day on November 6, which has hurt the statehood activists.
