Exclusive interview with Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal
By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Senior Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal, who holds charge of the Forest, Technical Education and Bhasha portfolios, is among the seniormost active politicians from Uttarakhand in terms of political experience. By qualification an electrical engineer and a post graduate in Political Science, he began his political innings in student politics at Allahabad under the tutelage of the legendary Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna. As a student leader, he was also elected as Coordinator of the Allahabad University Students’ Union in 1981 and as President of the Allahabad Parvatiya Chhatra Sangh, earlier. He returned to pursue politics here following creation of Uttaranchal as a separate state in 2000. A four time MLA from Narendra Nagar, two times as a Congress MLA and the last two times from the BJP, Uniyal was appointed to the Cabinet in 2017 as Agriculture Minister. He can be credited with aggressive promotion of agriculture and horticulture in Uttarakhand and, during his tenure, the state was able to win several prestigious awards such as Best Horticulture State Award, Best Organic State, Best Farming Practices Award, etc. After being re-elected from Narendra Nagar in 2022, he was given his present appointments. He has initiated many reforms in, both, the Forest and Technical Education departments.
As the local MLA, he is playing a key role in hosting the G20 Summit on Anti Corruption Strategies in Narendra Nagar beginning 24 May and will also host the G20 Summit in June on Finance.
Garhwal Post spoke to him regarding the coming G20 Summit and some other relevant issues. Some excerpts:
Under the Indian presidency of G20 this year, Uttarakhand has been given the opportunity to host three key G20 summits, including the one beginning on 24 May on Corruption. How does Uttarakhand stand to gain from hosting these events in your opinion?
Several G20 summits are being organised in several states this year as India is heading the organisation. Despite being relatively a smaller state, Uttarakhand has been given the opportunity to host three G20 summits. This is an opportunity for the state to bring itself on the global map more effectively. Uttarakhand is a tourist-centric state but many of its historic destinations are still not well known in tourism circles across the world. These summits will showcase the state in a new way – the world will see the development that is happening in the hill state. Hosting events like G20 summits gives more exposure to Uttarakhand and, in the long run, it will boost tourism in a big way. The visitors will get the opportunity to see the abundant natural beauty spread across the state, and will be exposed to the local culture, traditions and products. At an international level, religious tourism in Uttarakhand has a rather limited scope but Uttarakhand is rich in eco-tourism, adventure tourism and nature.
Narendra Nagar will host two of the upcoming events of G20 in the state. As the local MLA of Narendra Nagar, how do you see it?
Narendra Nagar has been the capit0al of Tehri kingdom and has a prominent place in the history of Uttarakhand. Besides, as compared to Mussoorie, its location is far more strategic. It is nearer to Jolly Grant Airport than even Mussoorie and Dehradun. The weather is pleasant and moderate as compared to Mussoorie, as it is neither hot nor very cold. Narendra Nagar and the surrounding area have around 800 hotels – including 5 five star ones, including Ananda Resorts, two Taj Group hotels and Westend. Its accessibility is greater even when compared to Ramnagar (Nainital) though that town also has a large concentration of star hotels.
Visitors to G20 will also get an opportunity to see the hill culture of the state. Oni Village will host the G20 guests and it has been developed as model village. Let us hope that all the villages in the state will also receive similar attention and get developed in the same manner. This conference should make everyone concerned aware of the need to develop the villages as Oni has been.
The theme of the coming G20 summit is to mull strategies on fighting corruption. How do you see this?
Corruption is a very serious issue. There is a need to focus more sincerely on the issue and fight it tooth and nail. Discussion on the strategies to fight corruption should inspire every political party and leader, every administrative office in the country and in Uttarakhand to fight corruption far more seriously and to ensure greater transparency in governance and administration. Fighting corruption should become a mission for the government and our party and even the other parties. This will be the contribution of hosting such an event, if we are able to fully achieve this in the near future.
What will be the biggest take away from the G20 Summits in Uttarakhand in your opinion?
The biggest benefit in my opinion is that a fresh global identity regarding tourism will be established for Uttarakhand. The other advantage will be that it will become evident to the whole world that India and Uttarakhand can successfully and peacefully host international events and summits. So, more international events can be hosted here in the state with the rest of the world having full faith in us. Uttarakhand’s natural and organic products, which are unique, will also get due exposure.
