Expressing disappointment at his letters to the Prime Minister and Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation remaining unacknowledged, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay has now written to the Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari, raising three demands seeking Central assistance on these issues.
Upadhyay has requested Gadkari to co-operate in facilitating necessary action by the Centre for provision of reservation in Central Government services for the people of Uttarakhand and provision of at least Rs10,000 crore per annum for the State as green bonus.
In a media statement, the PCC chief recalled his recent visit to Varanasi which coincided with Gadkari’s arrival for inaugurating water transport. Upadhyay states, “I am in favour of facilitation of water transport on the Ganga river but will also like to remind that in order to ensure cleaning of the river and mitigating pollution, maintaining regular water transportation and for carrying out the inter-linking of rivers, it is absolutely essential to ensure the continuous flow of water in the rivers. I had also expressed my concerns in a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with communicating the same to the union minister for Water Sources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. However, it is unfortunate that there has been no acknowledgement or reply from the centre to my letters.”
Stating that Modi and Bharti had remained apathetic to the demands he had submitted, Upadhyay sought the cooperation of the union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari in getting necessary work done by the Central Government in the interests of Uttarakhand. “The geographical, social, cultural and economic conditions in Uttarakhand are similar to the situation in states provided job reservation. Therefore, all the people of Uttarakhand should also be brought under the purview of reservation being provided in central government services,” he stated. The migration of residents of border area villages in Uttarakhand also poses a serious problem with the youth also feeling disappointed.
The Government should facilitate plantation of specifically beneficial tree species and provide Rs2,000 bonus per tree in such areas in order to encourage people to return to their villages located in border areas, said Upadhyay.
The PCC chief also reiterated his demand for provision by the Central Government of at least Rs10,000 crore per annum to Uttarakhand as green bonus. At the state level, the benefit of the green bonus should be facilitated by the state government to the people in form of subsidies in cooking gas and domestic electricity consumption, he said.