The decision taken by the State Cabinet purportedly to encourage industrial development in the mountainous area amounts to conspiracy to accord priority to people from outside Uttarakhand at the cost of the rights of the natives to exploit the State, said the Pradesh Congress Committee president Pritam Singh.
The PCC president said that in the name of facilitating investment and industrialisation in the State, the Government is usurping the rights of the native people.
Questioning the decision to facilitate convenient purchase of land by people from outside the State, Singh said that this points towards the alliance of the State Government and land mafia.
Such so called investment will not only defeat the basic purpose of the existing land ordinance but will also end up being an attempt to damage the
culture of the mountainous regions. He said, “Before taking any such decision, the State Government should have taken all the political parties, social and cultural organisations in to confidence. The Chief Minister should fully clarify as to what type ofindustries does the State Government want to establish in the mountainous regions and what conditions are to be met by those willing to set up such industries.”
It is pertinent to mention here that on Friday evening, the State cabinet had removed the limit of land purchase in mountainous areas for industrial purpose. It had also made an amendment to facilitate convenient land use change for industrial purposes in the mountainous regions.