Working to make Uttarakhand one of the top performing States: CM Trivendra Singh Rawat
As the State prepares to commemorate its Foundation Day on November 9, it also faces various challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. On the eve of the State Foundation Day, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat shares his views about the situation in the state and plans of the government for revival and development amidst these challenging times.
Twenty years of Uttarakhand’s creation are being completed. What do you think is the biggest achievement of Uttarakhand?
Uttarakhand took the form of a separate state, carved out from Uttar Pradesh in the year 2000, during the tenure of the central government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister. In the last twenty years, Uttarakhand has travelled a good distance but there is a lot more which needs to be done. The current Bharatiya Janata Party government is committed to the all-round development of the state and I can proudly say that Uttarakhand will always be among the fastest developing states in the country. Our pragmatic industrial policy has led to a large amount of investment coming into Uttarakhand.
How do you see the development of the state in future and what is the vision of your government in this regard?
Our government is looking at Uttarakhand as a self-reliant, prosperous and developed state in the coming years. For this, we have also prepared a ten-year vision document- Vision 2030. In this, we are focusing on eight areas with the whole emphasis on development. These eight sectors are education and skill development, industry, environment, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, health and transport. All these sectors will always remain at the core of our government’s policy, so that the state can be among the top performing ones contributing to the country’s economy.
Tourism is considered to be the backbone of Uttarakhand economy. This sector has been badly affected in the Covid period. What is the strategy for this in your vision document?
It is true that the maximum impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the tourism and hospitality sector. But this is a temporary effect and with conditions getting back to normal again the tourism in Uttarakhand has started witnessing substantial improvement. We want the state to be a global tourist destination with focus on adventure and wellness tourism. Our goal is to get the state ranked in the top three destinations of the country by the year 2030.
In order to maintain the pace of economic growth, which major areas will the government focus on in the coming years?
As I said, the government has prepared a vision paper for the next ten years- Vision 2030. Under this, our entire emphasis is on the development of agriculture, infrastructure and industries. We want to reduce dependence on fossil fuels like coal, petrol and natural gas to zero in the state. For this we need to promote the use of other energy options. The government is working in this direction. Apart from this, we plan to promote diversity in agriculture. We plan to emphasise on horticulture and cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants. At the same time, a plan to promote animal husbandry will also be worked on to increase the income of people in the agricultural sector. This will also help in creating employment. Hydropower is at the heart of government policy as far as industries are concerned. There is an immense potential for hydropower in the state of Uttarakhand. The government plans to shift the power demand of the entire state to hydropower and supply power to other states. That is why we have set a target to take the state to the top of the world in the field of green energy. Also, given the geographical location of the state, the government plans to give a boost to micro and small enterprises. The government’s focus is also on strengthening the state’s infrastructure. For this, a plan is being made to connect all major cities with multi-lane highways. At the same time, the government is also working on strengthening the rural road connectivity to the villages.
What is the situation of the Covid pandemic in the state and after the unlock, what kind of preparation is being done by the government?
We have done fairly well to address the Covid pandemic. If you see, Uttarakhand has been among the top three states to stop the spread of Covid. Our preparations from the beginning have led us to be fully prepared to face any challenge. We have recruited doctors, trained paramedical staff while addressing the challenge of the lack of ventilators in the state and creating additional ICUs. Therefore, we can say that in this period since the onset of the epidemic, we not only prevented the number of patients from increasing, but also kept on strengthening our medical infrastructure.
The economy of Uttarakhand is based on tourism. The Covid pandemic has severely affected the tourism industry. People of Uttarakhand living in other states have also returned. What is the state government doing towards providing employment?
We are committed to generate employment in the state and our government has been consistently working on it for the last three and a half years. During this time, we have brought a new scheme- Mukhyamantri Swarozgar Yojana under which 150 types of work have been included. These include work related to agriculture, small scale industries, hospitality, wellness and processing sectors. As a part of this, we have arranged subsidy ranging from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. In order to motivate people to start their own enterprise, a loan of up to Rs 25 lakh has also been arranged under the scheme. Thousands of people have registered themselves under this scheme so far. Also, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Agriculture Cooperative Scheme is going on in the state under which loans up to Rs one lakh are given without any interest and if someone wants to start a project under this scheme, then we give a loan of up to Rs five lakh.
To what extent has Covid affected the state’s economy and what is the roadmap of the government to bring life back on track in the state?
The Covid pandemic has severely affected the economic condition of the entire world. The Indian economy too has not been untouched by this. However, under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government has kept the situation under control by extending substantial economic packages. We are working on a dual approach to bring the state’s economy on the growth track. While on the one hand, we are cutting down on government expenses and observing austerity measures for all the state government’s departments, on the other hand, we are focussing on revival of other economic and industrial activities in the state. To ensure the smooth conduct of such activities, a cabinet sub-committee and a committee of experts have been formed which are looking into this process of normalisation. Apart from this, many projects of the government are underway including works such as all-weather road project, extension of railway line and road construction.
Sunday, 08 November 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
