Various concrete decisions have been taken by the State Government in order to make the Panchayats of Uttarakhand self-reliant so that institutions like the district Panchayat can become financially strong, said Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The CM was speaking after inaugurating a multi-purpose building in Chadhyanpata district Panchayat in Almora district here on Tuesday.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that before the formation of Uttarakhand State, the sole rest house of district Almora/Bagehswar was situated at the district headquarters where people from remote areas board and rest but no further attention was given to this issue later. During an earlier tour of Almora district of the CM, the district Panchayat head and members among other public representatives had placed the demand for construction of this multi-purpose building. Accepting the demand, a sum fo `one crore had been approved without delay by Rawat at the time and work was started on the project which progressed at a fast pace, setting a unique example of its kind, said the CM. Rawat also granted approval of `50 lakh to pay for the expenses incurred in construction of the building. According to information provided by official sources, a sum of about `3.49 crore was spent to construct this multi-purpose building. Out of this total sum, about `2.04 crore has been provided for by the State administration and the remaining amount has been expended by the district Panchayat using its own sources.
Rawat said that in order to encourage the youth towards taking up the option of self employmen and to motivate them to set up their own enterprises, about 2,000 people will be made ‘industrialiststs’ in the first stage so that they can come forward to change the scenario in Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister went on to say that by the month of December about 30,000 youth will be provided jobs. Expressing concern at the investment and capital of rural areas moving to the towns, the Chief Minister stressed on the need towards rapid village market development and making further attempt at ensuring that the produce grown in the village areas is able to reach the malls in the city areas. He said, “The State cabinet has decided to provide `one lakh in order to encourage community farming for mitigating migration of prople from the mountainous regions,”, said the CM while also referring to various other measures taken for the empowerment and welfare of women and children.
The CM said that construction of the building will provide visitors with the facility to stay overnight here while also providing a source for the district Panchayat for the generation of financial profit. He stressed on the need for laying special focus on the assets of the district Panchayats in order to make them stronger by developing a source for increasing the income of the district Panchayat. The Vidhan Sabha speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal also expressed his views on the occasion.