Budget Session begins at Gairsain
By Our Staff Reporter
Bhararisain (Gairsain), 13 Mar: The Budget Session of the Uttarakhand Assembly, which is also the first session of the calendar year 2023, began here today with the Governor’s address to the House. However, during the Governor’s address, the Opposition members continued to raise slogans and also staging protests inside and outside the House.
Addressing the House, Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh (Retd) reiterated the government’s commitment to making Uttarakhand a leading state by the time it reaches 25 years of existence. He said that the government is working on the plan to double the SGDP by 2025. He also pointed out that Uttarakhand’s current Per Capita Income is Rs 2.0584 lakhs, which is 37 percent more than the national average of Rs 1.50 lakhs.
Singh said that, during the past one year, a total of 491 kilometres of new roads have been constructed by the PWD, while reconstruction of roads of a total length of 1076 kilometres was carried out during this period. Roads totalling 853 kilometres have been repaired, while 15 bridges have been constructed during this period in the state, linking 50 villages with road connectivity.
The Governor also claimed that the government is committed to planned development of the cities and other urban habitations. For this, the Uttarakhand Transit Oriented Development Policy 2022 and Uttarakhand Transferable Development Rights Policy 2022 have been notified. He reminded that, in Dehradun, Indira Market is being redeveloped covering an area of 1658 square metres and this project would also include creating parking facility for 1050 vehicles.
Singh stated on behalf of the government that a total of 21 Housing Projects are under various stages of development under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana under which 17,304 housing units are being constructed for the urban homeless families.
He also reminded that the ex-gratia payment in case of death in road accidents has also been doubled from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakhs. The government is committed to ensuring rapid growth in the horticulture sector. Under the Horticulture Mission, Kiwi plantation is being encouraged and very high density plantation of apple is also being promoted under Mission Apple in the hills. Additional subsidy on drip and sprinkler irrigation is being given over and above the central subsidy being made available to them under Prime Minister’s More Crop per Drop Scheme.
Singh also pointed out that, with its aggressive push towards industrial growth, Uttarakhand has made it to the list of achievers for the year 2021 under Ease of Doing Business declared by the Industrial Development and MSME Department of the Union Government. So far, 139 start-ups have been recognised by the authorities in the state and, of these, financial incentives have been made available to 33 start-ups. In addition, so far, 13 incubators have also been recognised by the authorities.
The Governor also asserted that the government is committed to promoting research and excellence in the state and, for this, 20 centres of excellence are being established under the Higher Education Department at various educational institutions. Village Kimotha in District Chamoli and Village Bhaintola in District Bagheshwar have been declared as Sanskrit Villages to promote Sanskrit Education. He also added that the government is committed to promoting tourism and pilgrimage in the state to create more employment at the local level. As many as 48 temples of historic importance in Kumaon region have been identified to be redeveloped under the Manaskhand Scheme.
In the first phase, 16 temples are being redeveloped with better infrastructure facilities. Also, 20 sites have been identified and will be redeveloped for adventure tourism activities. Himalayan Darshan tour via choppers has been started from George Everest Point in Mussoorie. He also added that, through the forest department, eco-tourism is also being promoted. Uttarakhand is also being promoted as a favoured filming destination by the government. In the past one year, more than 150 film producers were granted permission to shoot in the state.
The Governor said that free text books are being distributed to 7.48 lakh students from classes one to eight in government and aided schools. The Governor also listed several other schemes related to welfare of ex-soldiers, skill development centres and modernisation of technical education centres (ITIs) and Polytechnics. He also listed several schemes related to fisheries and animal husbandry and dairy development.