During her maiden visit to the holy city on Thursday, the newly appointed Governor Baby Rani Maurya visited Jagatguru Ashram and
met Shankaracharya Rajrajeshwarashram at Kankhal. She paid obeisance at the Shiva temple at the ashram. She was accompanied by her husband Pradeep Kumar and mother-in-law. The Governor refused to comment on the deplorable condition of the highway though she herself had come by road. She said it was just her religious visit.
While speaking to the media persons, the Governor said, “I will leave no stone unturned to ensure development of the state.” In an emotional tone, she said that she was feeling as if she had come to her parents’ place (maika). “Uttarakhand is the land where the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna originate,” she said. “I myself hail from Agra, the city of Yamuna,” she added.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Rajrajeshwarashram said, “We have old family ties with the present Governor. We talked on many issues. I requested her to look into the issue of pilgrimage and tourism being blended together by the state government. Both should be kept separate. This is an imperative to maintain the sanctity of the holy places. If two are muddled the result is chaos.” On the issue of reservation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Rajrajeshwarashram said, “There is no need of reservation in the country. The Varnashram system has been existing in India since time immemorial but it was entirely based on the occupations of the individuals. Today, the political parties milk the issue as part of their vote bank politics. This is despicable.” He further said that if there must be a reservation policy in the country it should be for the poorest of the poor. “Gandhiji, Jaiprakash Narayan and others also launched ‘Antodaya’ which is based on the financial status of a person and not on caste,” he said.