Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 3 Jul: UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in India Isabelle Tschan paid a courtesy call on Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan at the Secretariat here today. During the meeting, ongoing programmes between the Uttarakhand government and UNDP were discussed in detail. Welcoming Isabelle Tschan and her team, the Chief Secretary mentioned some specific areas where the state can benefit from UNDP’s expertise, including skill and employment, carbon credit, digitisation and online systems and the introduction of a tracking system from birth. Bardhan said Uttarakhand’s literacy rate is high and there is a pressing need to focus on skill development for youth. He emphasised that UNDP should work in the state on skill development and livelihood, stressing that special attention was required in these sectors.
Bardhan also sought UNDP’s cooperation in the field of carbon credit, noting that Uttarakhand is a Himalayan state with 70 per cent forest land, making it environmentally significant. He said the state was working to expand digital and online systems and to implement a tracking system from the birth of a child, and sought UNDP’s support in these areas. Tschan informed that UNDP is working in the state with the Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance and is advancing sustainable development goals. She said UNDP is also providing technical support in the localisation and integration of SDGs, monitoring and evaluation, public policy, productive economy and entrepreneurship, IT and MIS, communication and capacity building, as well as CSR and private sector engagement. She added that a comprehensive memorandum of understanding has been signed between the state government and UNDP to provide technical assistance in climate change, natural resource management, energy, biodiversity conservation, disaster risk reduction and resilience, livelihood, skill development including circular economy, system strengthening and knowledge management.
Among those present at the meeting were Principal Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Additional Secretary Narendra Singh Bhandari, and from UNDP Satyan Chauhan and Pradeep Mehta.
