By Our Staff Reporter
New Delhi, 3 Apr: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today. During the meeting that lasted over an hour, both the leaders discussed several important issues concerning Uttarakhand. On this occasion, the Chief Minister presented a Munsiyari shawl, a coffee table book on the successful G20 event in Uttarakhand and a replica of Jageshwar Dham to the Prime Minister. The Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for the Government of India’s extensive and continuous support for various externally aided projects and capital projects, including the approval for the Jamrani Dam Project.
Thanking PM Modi for giving the responsibility of three important G20 meetings to Uttarakhand, Dhami informed him that the meeting of the Working Group of the Chief Scientific Advisors of G-20 countries was successfully hosted in Ramnagar, recently. Dhami also invited Prime Minister Modi for upcoming Char Dham Yatra, and for visits to Adi Kailash and Mayawati Ashram at Lohaghat. The Chief Minister informed the Prime Minister about the relief and displacement works for the people affected by landslides in Joshimath town in district Chamoli and stressed on the need for an economic package to the tune of Rs 2942.99 crores from the Centre towards relief and rehabilitation of the affected families in Joshimath. He said that this package will be required for construction of 150 pre-fabricated houses, site development work, payment of relief assistance as interim measures, and to provide temporary relief and accommodation to the affected families till the construction of alternate residences is completed. Dhami added that compensation for the damaged residential and commercial infrastructure, for vacating land that falls in the unsafe zone and for permanent rehabilitation of affected persons and acquisition and development of land and repair and restoration of affected departmental infrastructures have also been included in the package sought by the state from the Centre. He further apprised the PM that the work on land stabilisation and redevelopment of Joshimath is also required to be undertaken. The CM added that the Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Centre has been set up by the state government, which will advise the government on landslide improvement and management at the national level as a centre of excellence. The centre has started functioning in Joshimath and a roadmap has been prepared for the affected landslide and disaster affected risk area.
Dhami also urged the PM to start services of Vande Bharat trains in Uttarakhand. He said that a Vande Bharat train service from Haridwar to Varanasi would provide great convenience to the pilgrims and tourists. He shared with the PM that the recommendation for Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project was made at the Public Investment Board meeting organised by the Ministry of Finance, recently. The Chief Minister also appealed to the Prime Minister to get the financial approval for the Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project provided by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Dhami stated that, under the National Livestock Mission, 240 Merino sheep were imported from Australia in December 2019. Based on its success, it has been further proposed by the state government to import 500 additional merino sheep in the first phase in the next 3-4 months, who can yield about 500 metric tons of high-quality wool, which is important for the Indian textile industry under the concept of self-reliant India. For this, cooperation has been sought from the Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Union Ministry of Textiles.
Dhami further informed Modi that the State Millet Mission is being operated by the state from the year 2023-24 to 2027-28. Under the Millet Mission, 10,000 metric tonnes of Mandua (Finger Millet) will be procured from farmers and distributed through PDS. Along with this, Jhangora (Barnyard Millet) kheer will be made available to the students once a week in the mid-day meal. There is a need to issue minimum support price for Jhangora (Barnyard Millet), Ramdana (Amaranthus) and Kangni (Foxtail Millet), he stressed.
The CM told the PM that PMGSY-1 & II schemes had been launched in the state and urged him to consider granting permission till March, 2024 to complete all the remaining 473 works. Under PMGSY, 407 habitations with a population of 150 to 249 are left in the state in which construction of 3,200 km long roads is proposed, and the estimated cost is Rs 2,900 crore.
The Chief Minister said that, keeping in the mind that a target has been set by the Prime Minister to make the country’s economy USD 5 Trillion, the state government has launched the “Strong Uttarakhand” mission to strengthen the state’s economy, under which the target is to double the GSDP from Rs 2.75 lakh crore to Rs 5.5 lakh crore over the next 5 years (2022-2027). At present, a firm, McKinsey Global, is preparing a strategy to achieve this goal by harmonising the development of infrastructure with a focused approach to attracting private investment in tourism, agriculture, industry, health, education and service sectors.
