Uttarakhand Foundation Day: How much has Uttarakhand changed in 22 years?

Uttarakhand completed 22 years of its establishment on 09 November. The state has now entered its 23rd year on November 9. Uttarakhand has achieved a lot in the last 22 years but there is much more that is yet to be achieved…

Industrial development picks up pace

SIDCUL was established for the establishment of industrial units in Uttarakhand during the ND Tiwari government. About five thousand large and medium scale industries were established in SIDCUL established in Haridwar, Dehradun and USnagar districts. Earlier the number of big industries in Uttarakhand was not even a hundred. Due to the industrial development across the state during the Tiwari government, Uttarakhand was able to be established on the industrial map of the country. However, the pace of industrial development did not increase as expected after the Tiwari government.

Rapid development of roads

After the formation of Uttarakhand, the development of roads accelerated. Roads built in collaboration with the Center and the state made the traffic smooth. The road reached even remote villages. At present 30,000 km of roads have been built. Due to the All-Weather Road Project of the Central Government, the roads of Chardham Route have been rejuvenated. This made the journey of the local people easy along with Chardham Yatra. Apart from this, road and ropeway connectivity is going to be better with the expressway, Bharatmala and Parvatmala project being built from Delhi to Doon.

Economy touched new heights

The economy of Uttarakhand also developed after becoming a separate state. In the past, the economy of about 17 thousand crores is going to reach three lakh crores today. When Uttarakhand was formed, the per capita income was Rs 13,762, which has now crossed Rs 1.96 lakh. However, during this period the state also got a debt of about one lakh crore rupees. The burden of salary and pension is increasing. While there is not enough budget for infrastructure development. However, the state has got a lot of budget for infrastructure development through central schemes.

Electricity and water reached every house

Every village and every house in Uttarakhand is illuminated by electricity. According to the claims of the Energy Corporation, every house has got an electricity connection. The number of electricity connections has crossed 27 lakhs. In this sequence, where the houses were connected to electricity in the Saubhagya scheme. Power supply system was strengthened under Deendayal Upadhyaya Yojana.

Similarly, work is being done rapidly under the Jal Jeevan Mission project. To supply water from tap to a total of 15 lakh houses in the state. In the last two years, water has been supplied to about one million homes.

There is no ban on migration, villages are getting calm

In the last 22 years, more than 32 lakh people have migrated in Uttarakhand, made for the purpose of stopping the water and youth of the mountain. According to the 2018 Uttarakhand Migration Commission report, 1,700 villages in Uttarakhand have been deserted since the formation of the state. There are about a thousand villages where less than a hundred people live. The population in 474 villages has decreased by 50% in the last ten years. Strategic concerns have increased due to migration. The officers of the commission, made to stop the migration, themselves fled from Pauri and got stuck in the Doon Secretariat.

Expected improvement in education and healthcare

The picture of Uttarakhand in education has recently become clear from the performance index of the central government. Uttarakhand rose from 18th to 34th rank in just four years in various standards of education. On the other hand, health services have also not improved. People are compelled to go to private hospitals. In 22 years after the formation of the state, neither the shortage of specialist doctors nor the posts of paramedical and nursing could be filled completely. Surprisingly, despite having four medical colleges, most of the staff and doctors are on contract.

Bad agriculture and horticulture in Uttarakhand

Agriculture and horticulture have been considered important for the development in the geographical conditions of the state. Especially, horticulture is considered a game changer in hilly areas, but the condition of this sector is also not satisfactory. Uttarakhand is going to be 22 years old and even today, Uttarakhand is dominated by apples from Himachal and Kashmir. What’s more, the department has not been able to release even reliable figures for its area, product till now. Recently, the Directorate of Horticulture, writing a letter to all the DHOs, questioned the authenticity of the present data.

Environmental concerns

In Doon, Haldwani, the level of pollution improved due to the people’s awareness and system efforts, taking lessons from the improvement seen in the climate after everything came to a halt in the lockdown during the Corona period. The situation did not improve in Rishikesh, Haridwar, Rudrapur and Kashipur. Under the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), the central government has set a new target of reducing the level of polluting particulates (PM) in the atmosphere by 40 percent by the year 2026. Survey of 132 cities will be done. From Uttarakhand these include Rishikesh, Dehradun and Kashipur.

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