The State Agriculture, Horticulture and Mountain Villages land Consolidation minister Harak Singh Rawat chaired a meeting of the Mountain land Consolidation Advisory Committee in Dehradun on Monday. Addressing the officials and members of the committee, the Minister stressed on the importance of land consolidation for facilitating the desired level of development in the mountainous regions.
“We will have to draft a work plan for facilitating development in the mountainous regions. Planning has not yet been done for the mountainous regions which is why the chief minister Harish Rawat has formed the mountain land consolidation advisory committee. The lack of development continues to fuel migration from the mountainous regions of the State. Development is not possible in the mountains without land consolidation. This requires strong will power,” said the minister.
Addressing the officials he directed the members of the advisory committee and officials of the State administration should study the land consolidation regulation of neighbouring mountain State of Himachal Pradesh. A draft of the land consolidation law for Uttarakhand should be made which should be practical and beneficial for the State, he said. Rawat directed officials of the Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural Development, Animal Husbandry and other departments concerned that only 200 villages should be selected at the moment for the pilot project in the State.
In the first stage of this project, one village each should be selected in all development blocks and developed into an ideal village, he said. Rawat further said that during the Government sponsored fairs and other events, three songs each in Garhwali, Kumaoni and Jaunsari languages should be performed through the culture Department. This would not only help in nurturing the native culture of the State but also help in encouraging the land consolidation programme. Cash rewards will be presented for the top three songs, he added.