like the Sugar Minister Prakash Pant, the Agriculture Minister Subodh Uniyal too faced a tough time in the House on Friday with the Congress MlAs throwing questions in a row at him.
As the Congress MlAs Manoj Rawat and Independent MlA Preetam Singh Panwar asked supplementary questions Uniyal kept on dodging them, that the questions did not relate to the original question. The question on medicinal plants was asked by the BJP MlA Mahendra Bhatt during the Question Hour.
Notably, Bhatt asked the Minister to explain the objective behind establishing a herbal research institute at Gopeshwar.
The minister said in his reply that it was established to preserve the medicinal plants and also to give training on how to cultivate medicinal plants and to do research on them by way of promoting them. The BJP MlA said that the institute having three scientists against the six sanctioned posts, there are doubts over whether it would serve its purpose.
Panwar asked the Minister what the Government is doing to collect medicinal plants scientifically and to increase the people’s income through it. The Minister said that preservation and exploitation of the medicinal and aromatic plants are being controlled by different Government orders. “As per a government order, use of 34 species of medicinal plants has been completely banned while 21 species are free for exploitation and 28 species are kept under sustainable exploitation,” he said.
Replying to the question asked by Preetam Singh Panwar, Water Supply Minister Prakash Pant said that 110 pumping schemes are under construction at an estimated cost Rs 913.42 crore. “We have been giving emphasis on pumping schemes,” he said following which the leader of the opposition Indira Hridayesh suggested that the State Government should ask the Centre for funds with the latter having opened its purse strings for the State. She also said that the old pipelines, damaged fully or partially, landing the people in water woes, the Government should go for installing new pumps. The Minister said he would look into this.
The Minister said that they have been giving emphasis on a two-pronged plan- installing pumps and recharging the state’s water sources-, adding that the hill people are collecting their drinking water still from natural sources, which have been drying.
“As per the data, 39417 localities are being provided with 40 litre of water per person and 17417 villages are being provided with partial water supply while 16 villages are being affected because of the poor water quality. This year, the government has set a target of providing 495 villages with running water. 484 villages have so far received the facility.
We have been allocating budget for this from the state sector and NABARD while taking loans. Things are being executed through foreign aided projects too,” the Minister said.