lambasting the BJP-led Central Government for not meeting the expectations of the people of Uttarakhand in the Union rail budget, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay has demanded that the Centre desist from exhibiting similar apathy towards the State in the upcoming general budget.
Addressing the media here at the Congress Bhawan on Friday, the PCC chief said that the union rail budget disappointed the people who had earlier been told that the Char Dham shrines would be connected by rail link. He said that there is yet an opportunity for the five BJP MPs from Uttarakhand to effectively raise the State’s issues in interest of Uttarakhand and its people.
He said, “Even the pilgrimage centre Haridwar was ignored in the rail budget despite it being a town receiving the largest floating population among the state’s towns. We hope that this apathetic attitude of the Centre for the State will not be perpetuated in the general budget too.”
Citing the disruption of water supply during the Jat agitation, the PCC chief said that rivers originating from Uttarakhand provide a wide range of benefits to the various states it passes through. He said, “The States make varied use and benefit due to the rivers which originate in Uttarakhand which makes it only fair to consider that Uttarakhand should also receive a certain share of the earnings based on the rivers. The State should also have the control over hydro electric projects based on rivers inside Uttarakhand which have not yet been brought under the State’s authority. Additionally, the Centre should also provide the green bonus which Uttarakhand deserves for the vital ecological services it provides through its environmental wealth. I have written to the prime minister and the union finance minister requesting that that errors committed in the rail budget should be rectified. We have requested that in the union general budget, the State should not be treated with the apathy it suffered in the rail budget,” said Upadhyay.
On being asked about the dissent and vociferous protest by supporters of State finance minister and Haldwani MlA Indira Hridayesh recently, the PCC chief claimed that there had not been any manhandling of PCC office bearer as reported by some media. He averred, “Being a democratic party, some people were raising issues while raising slogans against a particular person for a bit before they stopped sloganeering.” The PCC chief also reiterated that partiality by the Central Government is causing various problems in Uttarakhand. He also repeated the demands including reservation in central services for the natives of Uttarakhand and approval of the various proposals submitted by the Uttarakhand Government to the Central Government under the Namami Gange project aimed at cleaning and rejuvenating the Ganga river.