Chief Minister Harish Rawat met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and asked that facilities of special category States be provided to Uttarakhand. He also sought the implementation of recommendations made by the 14th Finance Commission for Uttarakhand.
Rawat also asked that a special assistance of `500 crore be provided without delay for successful facilitation of the Ardh Kumbh Mela to be held in Uttarakhand next year.
Meeting the Union Finance Minister in New Delhi, the Uttarakhand CM informed him that up to eight crore people from across India and abroad are expected to visit Uttarakhand for the Ardh Kumbh Mela to be held in the State from January to April 2016. He said, “The Uttarakhand Government is working to ensure a secure and accident-free Ardh Kumbh. For this, out of the proposed budget of `500 crore, a sum of `325 crore is being spent on basic facilities of a permanent nature.
The State Government has already approved projects worth `210 crore based on resources available to it. Work has started on such projects,” said Rawat.
He requested Jaitley to facilitate swift release of the
`500 crore Central assistance to Uttarakhand so that all permanent and temporary construction works related to the Ardh Kumbh can be completed by December 2015. The CM also elicited Jaitley’s attention to the fact that the changes in funding pattern as per the recommendations of the 14th finance commission had exerted a negative impact on the State’s financial condition. Vulnerable to disasters, Uttarakhand also suffers from lack of infrastructal development while also being strategically important due to the international border
in the State.
Considering this and the importance of Uttarakhand’s environment, the Centre has in the past accorded special status to the State but as per the recommendations of the 14th finance commission the difference between special category and general category States has been removed which has exerted a detrimental effect on various important works and schemes in Uttarakhand.
later, in an informal interaction with the media, Rawat said that the State will benefit from the proactive discussion he had had with the Union Finance minister on various issues. Uttarakhand’s chief secretary Rakesh Sharma was also present in the meeting.