Dehradun: NITI Aayog Vice President Suman Beri held a meeting with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and secretaries of several departments at Uttarakhand Secretariat Dehradun. In the meeting, the secretaries of all the departments put forward the plans of the state government before the NITI Aayog. During this, the Vice President of NITI Aayog also praised many works of CM Dhami in the meeting.
In the meeting, CM Dhami told the officials of NITI Aayog how the Uttarakhand government is trying its best to develop the state with limited resources. Chief Minister Dhami also advocated the inclusion of floating population in the standards of central schemes.
The Chief Minister said during the meeting that Uttarakhand is a state with odd geographical conditions. The state has mountainous, plain, Bhabar and Terai regions. He said that disaster, forest fire, migration and floating population are big challenges in the state. Uttarakhand is a strategically important state due to its proximity to the international borders of two countries. He requested the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog to formulate policies keeping in mind the geographical conditions of the Himalayan states. He requested to formulate a special policy to increase the livelihood of the people of the mountainous regions. This will solve a major problem like migration from the mountainous regions.
The Chief Minister said that the state government is working on an ambitious project to link snow-based rivers with rain-based rivers. Its long-term results will prove to be a game changer. A huge amount of money is required for the implementation of the “River Linking Project”. For which he requested the NITI Aayog for technical support. He said that the population of Uttarakhand is basically about 1.25 crore, but being a religious and tourist state, there is a movement of 10 times more people in the state. Keeping in mind the floating population in the state, there is a need for development of basic and infrastructure facilities. He requested the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog to formulate a policy for the state keeping in mind the floating population in the state.
The Chief Minister said that Uttarakhand is a very sensitive state from the disaster point of view. Due to natural disasters, the state suffers a lot of loss of life and wealth every year. The infrastructure developed in the state is greatly affected due to natural disasters. He requested that a policy should be made keeping in mind the natural disasters of the state. He said that forest fire is also a big problem of the state. The state will need adequate resources to solve the challenges of forest fire in the state. The Chief Minister also requested to make a special policy for the development of the border areas of the state.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has started the ‘Sashakt Uttarakhand Initiative’ in the year 2022 towards fulfilling PM Modi’s resolve to make India a developed nation by the year 2047. Under which a target has been set to double the economy of the state in the next five years. At present, we have increased the economy of the state by 1.3 times as compared to the year 2022. We have prepared short-term, medium-term and long-term roadmaps to achieve this goal.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Beri congratulated the Chief Minister on Uttarakhand getting the first place in the ranking of Sustainable Development Goals released by NITI Aayog. He said that every possible cooperation was assured on all the topics related to the major challenges of the state which were discussed in the meeting today. He said that every possible cooperation will be given by NITI Aayog for the development of aspiring districts and development blocks of the state.
NITI Aayog team had visited Haridwar
The NITI Aayog team, which returned after visiting Haridwar, praised the state government. Vice President Suman Beri said that the responsibility of NITI Aayog is to meet the Chief Ministers of all the states and get information about the schemes and problems there.
He congratulates the Chief Minister for the way Uttarakhand has achieved the first position in sustainable development, leaving behind all the states of the country. At the same time, the Chief Minister said that NITI Aayog is such a constitutional institution of the Government of India, which runs schemes for the development of all the states of the country and as per the necessary instructions of NITI Aayog, the state government is doing better work in the state and will continue to do so in future.
At the same time, Chief Minister Dhami also said that during the meeting held in Delhi recently, he had put forward this matter in front of NITI Aayog that being a Himalayan state, Uttarakhand should also be given a special scheme package, so that development can take place rapidly in the state.
