Despite Chief Minister Harish Rawat having striven to reach out to his electorate through certain social overtures during his one year tenure in office, his Government has hardly proved different from its predecessors as far as its efforts to solve the basic problems concerning the health and education sectors are concerned.
Chief Minister having envisioned and rolled out a seven- year multipronged strategy to curb migration during his recent Kumaon trip might have begotten hopes of a real turnaround. But things on the ground are too grim for optimism.
There has been little improvement in the basic services like health and education for the people living in the hill areas. The fact is that despite higher salaries on offer to lure them, doctors and teachers, accustomed to creature comforts available in the plains, are still disinclined to repair to remote and hilly areas. What is more serious is the fact that those who take up posts in the hills perforce return to their chosen places in the plains soon by manipulating things through pliant politicians. Thus, things remaining almost irreversibly in the same sorry state with basic education and health facilities eluding them, the people from the mountainous terrains keep on migrating downhill.
Taking on these fundamental things is what is more required than offering palliatives and going for cosmetic changes in the super-structure. The problem is real. With the people from the hilly villages coming down in the plains for a better living, the civic services in the urban areas are bearing the brunt of the unimpeded migration. Take for instance, the situation prevailing in Haldwani. The process is taking its toll on the civic amenities being provided there.
Chief Minister is well aware of the grim drift of things. He himself said population of Haldwani has grown manifold thanks to migration. The pace of development is slowing down consequently. However, he is yet to unfold a road map to reverse things.