In order to raise Uttarakhand’s disputes with Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, State Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma is going to attend central zonal council meeting scheduled on September 22 at Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Sources said that 30 issues are to be discussed in the zonal council though the main issues for Uttarakhand will be its disputes with its neighbouring States. Uttarakhand has had property disputes with Uttar Pradesh since it was carved out of UP as a separate State in the year 2000. Apart from this Uttarakhand also has power sharing dispute with Himachal Pradesh.
The chief secretary is going along with principal secretary, Power Umakant Panwar, Irrigation secretary Anand Vardhan, Finance secretary Amit Negi and General Administration additional secretary Shailesh Bagauli.
Sources said that the chief secretary would also raise issue of central Government schemes like the one for biodiversity, National Food Security Act, Aadhaar and restriction of ethanol movement. It has been noticed that ethanol is being soldin Uttarakhand @ `1.20 per litre while in Madhya Pradesh the rate is Re one per litre. Sharma will seek rate parity of ethanol across the states. During meeting, he would also raise the issue of hydro power projects, Bhagirathi eco sensitive zone and Jamrani barrage.
It would be pertinent to mention here that the council will have also discussion on the action taken report (ATR) on the discussions held in the 20th meeting of the council at lucknow on January 19, 2015. This would include discussion on communal situation in the states in central region; issues related to national policy on disaster management-2005; measures to curb left wing extremism in the States of central zone; support of statistical strengthening (SSS); single window system for public grievance redressal; provision of manual of officer procedure by the State Government;
matters related to pension and pensioners; implementation of the recommendations of the second administrative reforms commission; non receipt of utilisation certificate regarding release of grant in aid to Government of Chhattisgarh for development of sports infrastructure under Panchayat Yuva Aur Khel Abhiyan; restriction on movement of molassess/ethanol by states; implementation of National Food Security Act-2013; computerization of targeted public distribution system; construction of godowns by
Central Warehousing Corporation; mechanism for procedure of pulse on minimum support price (MSP); afforestation and conservation of bio diversity; promotion of oil-seed production; multi sectoral development programme; Reproductive & Child Health (RCH); establishment/upgradation of medical colleges under centrally sponsored schemes; ANM/GNM schools and allied health science schemes; Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY); National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD); National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP); National Programme for Prevention and Control of Flurosis (NPPCF); National Aids Control Programme (NACP), Implementation of health research schemes and National leprosy Eradication Programme.