Environmentalist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi warned of another bout of agitation in the coming days if the State Government fails to act on the proposals they have put before the Chief Minister in the form of a letter. “Meeting CM further is useless. They must act instead of proposing more dialogue,” he said while addressing a Press conference in Dehradun on Saturday.
He claimed to have met large number of villagers under Gaon Bachao Andolan undertaken under the banner of Himalayan Unity Mission in all the districts of the State. “The people I met are particularly outraged over the poor state of the emergency services being run on public— private partnership (PPP) mode. The private players are milking PPP to earn quick bucks,” he said. He further asked the State Government to ensure that its employees, including, doctors and teachers, go and do duty in the villages located in the mountainous parts of the State. The Government had better quit if it fails the people, he said
He further said that the Government should draft a developmental plan in villages based on local resources. Unemployed youths should be given self employment or employment based training, he stressed.
He said that the people should choose their candidates among themselves to achieve development as both BJP and Congress, coming to power by turns, have failed to address the people’s concerns. He said that the State Government should seek consent among the local people if they are mulling to set up projects like hydro power project, big and small dams, roads and others in the state.
Referring to the rampant illegal mining activities going on across the State, he alleged that the State Government is doing nothing worthwhile to stop it. “On the pattern of Forest Corporation, the State Government may make Mining Corporation to check illegal mining and the Mafias engaged in it,” he said.
The enforcement agencies should seek cooperation from the local forest panchayats and gram panchayats on the matter, the environmentalist suggested.
The persons coming under below poverty line and those affected by disasters should be allowed to do the mining sans any tax or so for constructing shops, buildings, tourism hut and others after it is ascertained that none of them is doing any government job, Joshi said.
He said that the State Government should review the progress of the villages and its condition over the 15 years since the State’s formation. Joshi alleged that over the last 15 years since Uttarakhand came into being, the State Government has been laying emphasis on developing big cities to the neglect of the villages. The large portion of the budget is being spent for the cities’ development, he said, adding that the State government should focus on developing infrastructures and other basic amenities in the villages. People’s empowerment is necessary and the New Panchayati Raj Act in the state should be enacted without delay, he said.