Chief Minister Harish Rawat seems to have used up to the hilt the ‘disappointment’ of the people of Uttarakhand with the Centre over the recently presented Union Budget by way of inviting their suggestions regarding the State’s annual Budget for the year 2015-2016. Such pre-Budget public relation exercise is the first with none of his predecessors having embarked on it since Uttarakhand came up as a State in 2000.
It is yet to be seen to what extent the State Government accommodates such suggestions in the Budget. However, the move to strike chords with the people at large over video-conferencing and telephonic conversation is a good one for participatory democracy, the observers say. It would definitely help the State Government to understand better the aspirations of the common people and their local public representatives.
However, the Chef Minster must show something concrete in the Budget which would convince the people that his is a truly people’s friendly Government unlike the NDA now ruling the Centre which seems to have scant regard for the mounting aspirations of the hill State’s people.
Apart from expecting some immediate reliefs from inflation and the likes, the people expected the Centre to address long–pending issues like the proposed Tanakpur- Bageshwar rail link. But these were belied both in the rail as well as the general Budgets, said Suresh Mahra, a native of Nainital.
Besides, they expected that the Centre would do something to usher in the ‘Achhe Din’ that Narendra Modi epitomises. The people are crest-fallen, added Mahra.
During such an interactive session with the Chief Minister through video conferencing, MlA from lohaghat (Champawat district) Puran Singh Fartyal maintained that detailed projects reports have already been submitted to the Government regarding Saryu lift drinking water project, Kwairala valley lift drinking water scheme and Kolidhek lake construction scheme meant for lohaghat. But nothing has so far been done to give concrete shape to these projects, he said, suggesting these projects be taken up on priority basis.
A few days are left for the people to see how much emphatic the Chief Minister would prove vis-à-vis their expectations for better days.