Arhat Bazar to be shifted to Bahmanwala

Dehradun, 7 July: Several important decisions were taken and proposals approved at the Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat here today. In all, 33 proposals were approved by the cabinet. Among the more significant decisions, a proposal to shift Arhat Bazar in Dehradun to Bahmanwala was approved, and one year extension was approved to give 3 free LPG cylinders to Antyodaya families. Some other important decisions included amendment in the Clinical Establishment Act to exempt smaller clinics and nursing homes with up to 50 beds capacity from paying registration charges and to set up a business hotel in place of the Patel Nagar (Dehradun) located office of Tourism Department on PPP mode. Yet another important decision taken today was approval for bringing an ordinance to prevent and evict encroachments on government land, whereby a provision for imprisonment for a minimum of 7 years and a maximum of 10 years for encroachers has been made. In addition, fine equal to the market value of the encroached land will also be charged.

Among the most important decisions taken today is with respect to shifting of Arhat Bazar in Dehradun from its present location at Gandhi Road to Bahmanwala. A policy has been approved for converting the land use of a total of 7.7493 hectares of land which will be handed over to the MDDA in Brahmanwala village for the displacement of traders and other affected people from residential and park to commercial and for shifting the commission market to a new site. After the shifting of Arhat Bazar, the width of the Gandhi Road will increase from 16 to 24 metres. The land use of the proposed land in Bahmanwala will be changed from residential and park to commercial in the Master Plan for which the cost of Rs 33.41 will be exempted by the government. The Revenue Department has been assigned the responsibility to change land use.

In another significant decision to encourage natural agriculture in the state, a new Chief Minister’s Natural Farming Scheme has been approved by the cabinet. This scheme is aimed at gap funding in various work items under the National Natural Farming Mission. Under the centrally announced scheme ‘National Natural Farming Mission’, funds have been made available only for 50 farmers on a cluster of 50 hectares. Due to more small and marginal farmers in the state of Uttarakhand, an average of 90 farmers are engaged in a cluster of 50 hectares. Thus there is a gap of about 40 farmers per cluster, for which gap funding will be done from the proposed Chief Minister Natural Farming Scheme. Under the scheme, 6400 area will be covered under natural farming system. Under which along with reduction in production cost, soil conservation, eco-friendly agriculture and integrated agriculture and animal husbandry model will be promoted. About 8,000 MT of natural products will be produced. Production and use of chemical-free products are aimed at improving public health as well as increasing farmers’ income.

In a related decision, the Cabinet also approved Namami Gange Natural Farming scheme in 5 kilometres corridor along Ganga River covering an area of 1950 hectares.

The cabinet also approved organising of Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit-2023 in December this year to attract greater investment and to promote greater employment generation. The cabinet felt that to establish the state of Uttarakhand as an attractive affordable investment destination, this type of investor conference will prove beneficial. A High Powered Committee meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand has been set up for smooth and successful organisation of the event in 2023. An expenditure of Rs 67.40 crores is expected to be incurred in holding the Investors Summit, the curtain raiser of which will be held in Delhi and Haridwar this month, while road shows are alsp proposed to be held in several major cities of the country including Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Chennai, Bangalore etc in India and Dubai and Singapore internationally. The summit will be held in Dehradun and will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government is expecting to attract investment worth Rs 70,000 crore through the summit and employment generation for 2.5 lakh youth.

Apart from constructing a business hotel in Patel Nagar on Tourism Land on PPP Mode, another proposal of the Tourism Department was also approved to start aero sports activity in George Everest also in PPP mode.

The cabinet also approved regularisation of user charges for various departments. There will be an increase of 5 percent in user charges every year.

An amendment in Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 was also approved and it was decided to set up a Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal. A one time settlement scheme for GST cases was also granted approval.

In a move towards merger of Agriculture and Horticulture departments, a decision was made to create a post of Director General of Agriculture to head both the departments.

New rules for purchase of land for affordable housing and for sports activities have also been approved.