Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 21 Jul: Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami has set a target for Uttarakhand’s flagship brand ‘House of Himalayas’ to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crore by the year 2030, emphasising the state’s push towards rural enterprise and heritage-based economic development.
Chairing a detailed review meeting at the Secretariat here, today, the CM instructed the officials to intensify marketing efforts through Unity Malls and ensure wide scale promotion of local products across national and international platforms.
Taking stock of progress under key schemes of the Rural Development Department, including the Mukhya Mantri Udhyamshala Yojana, Growth Centre Scheme, House of Himalayas, and the Centre of Excellence initiative, the CM emphasised the critical need to scale up rural livelihood opportunities and support those returning to their native villages. He called for the immediate strengthening of the ‘Doorstep Delivery System’ to make these initiatives more accessible and impactful, particularly in remote regions.
Dhami further directed the officials to identify and develop one smart village in every development block, ensuring the provision of basic amenities alongside employment connectivity for all families. He stressed that such villages should serve as models of integrated rural development with skill enhancement and economic self-reliance at their core.
He also sought a comprehensive strategy to elevate ‘House of Himalayas’ as a premium brand, with rigorous quality benchmarks and commercial viability. Dhami also called for a business-oriented revamp of the products emerging from Growth Centres, linking them with skill development and enterprise support frameworks. Women’s entrepreneurship was identified as a priority area under the Centre of Excellence scheme, for which dedicated resources, training modules, financial support and market access will be facilitated.
Secretary, Rural Development, Radhika Jha briefed the CM on the performance of various schemes, noting that 1.65 lakh women in Uttarakhand have already attained the status of “Lakhpati Didis,” earning Rs 1 lakh annually. She added that the department aims to enable one lakh additional women to achieve this milestone over the next three years. Under the Mukhya Mantri Udhyamshala Yojana, 15,000 rural enterprises are slated to receive targeted assistance within the same timeframe. Work on expanding the ‘House of Himalayas’ brand is ongoing, with over 150 indigenous products being brought under its ambit in a phased manner.
Among those present in the meeting included Rural Development Minister Ganesh Joshi, Vice Chairman of the Infrastructure Monitoring Council Vishwas Dawar, Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan, Principal Secretaries RK Sudhanshu and R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Sridhar Babu Adanki, Additional Secretaries Jharna Kamthan and Anuradha Pal, and Additional Chief Executive Officer of CPPGG Manoj Pant.
