In a bid to review the progress report involving the 2012 State Assembly election manifesto of the Congress, State PCC chief Kishore Upadhyaya convened a meeting with the members of the Harish Rawat Cabinet at Congress Bhawan on Tuesday. This review meeting was held under full media glare. Party activists were also present in large number. The observers construe it as a preparation for the upcoming Assembly election slated in 2017.
During the review meeting, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that seeking explanation from the Ministers about what they have done is justified. “We have fulfilled 70 per cent of our promises. We have provided you with the micro and macro details of our achievements since 2012. Now it is your (party) turn to educate people about these achievements so that we can confidently face the upcoming elections,” he said.
CM said that they have made the common people partners in 211 projects. “Uttarakhand has become a fast developing State and become second in per capita income among the States of the Union. However, development is not uniform as we expect it to be. This is the reason we are stressing on bridging the gap between the rich and the poor. To reach out to the people, we have launched pension scheme. Now every person having attained 60 years, excluding the pensioners, are getting old age pension,” the CM said.
Referring to a slew of sops meant for the unprivileged, Chief Minister said that Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Bima Yozna has been started for the APl families to provide them cashless health insurance scheme. “Currently, they are getting yojna worth `50,000, but now we are planning to extend the limit upto `2 lakh. Monthly income limit has been increased along with the pension amount so that maximum eligible people may get the maximum benefits,” he said. He dwelt on Tilu Rauteli special pension scheme as per which pension would be granted to the women aged between 20 to 40 years in case of any physical disability or wounds.
“To provide corruption- free administration, we have launched Samadhan Portal which is being led by chief secretary and district magistrates. Even I am myself convening review meetings on monthly basis and interact with the complainants directly. Now, the portals are being appreciated by one and all. I talk to the people directly over phone on weekly basis,” he said.
“To feel the people’s pulse, I randomly short-list 50 telephone numbers and call the people up to get direct feedback from them about the state of the welfare projects the state government is running. To rein in the land grabbers, we would shortly make an Act by which we would acquire benami (anonymous) lands,” CM said.
To reorganise the Tehsils, the State Government has formed several sub-tehsils. “We are monitoring the grievance redressal registers of the district headquarters. We are going to recruit Patwaris at the district levels in next three months. We have begun e-governance system and launched wi-fi service in Haridwar. Now, we are planning to give free wi-fi service at all district headquarters. MDDA is being made accountable to provide basis amenities in the residential colonies instead of penalising them. River fronts are being developed at Rispna and Bindal embankments,” Rawat said.