The Congress staged a protest rally to the Dehradun Collectorate where the party leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to the President on issues of price rise and alleged apathy of the Central Government towards Uttarakhand. led by Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay, the protesters also strongly condemned terrorism being perpetuated against India by Pakistan.
The protesters pointed out that there has been a drop of about 75 per cent in the international crude oil rate but the Central Government is keeping the rates of petrol and diesel high to the detriment of the common citizen in order to benefit oil companies. In the last one and half year, the prices of various commodities have increased by two to four times.
In the memorandum addressed to the president, the Congress leaders have pointed out that the forests and rivers of Uttarakhand fulfill the water requirement of about 600 lakh persons in addition to which the State is of vital importance from the environmental and strategic point of view. The Centre has made a cent per cent cut in budget for block and district Panchayats under the central finance commission apart from which the MNREGA budget has also been decreased. According to the Congress, the then UPA government at the Centre had decided after the 2013 disaster to provide Rs 8,500 crore for reconstruction and development in Uttarakhand. Out of this amount, the NDA government has released Rs 2,500 crore in 18 months. Since assuming office, the BJP-led Central Government has made varied financial cuts in central budgetary allocations to Uttarakhand which is creating a financial quandary for the State. The Centre is yet to accord its approval to the State’s demand for Rs 1,000 crore for works proposed to be executed for the Ardh Kumbh Mela. The Mahanagar Congress Committee head Prithviraj Chauhan, district committee head Yamin Ansari and other party office bearers were also among those who participated in the demonstration.