Uttarakhand's pragmatic industrial policies attracting huge investments: CM

Upbeat about the all-round development of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Sunday said his government's pragmatic industrial policy has ensured a large amount of investment coming into the state and expressed confidence that the flow would continue uninterrupted.

With the state turning 20, Rawat also said he wants to develop Uttarakhand into a global tourist destination for adventure and wellness tourism and listed a number of schemes introduced by his government to give a boost to job creation and self-employment opportunities within the state while keeping migration under check.

"Much development has taken place in Uttarakhand in the last 20 years but there is much more that remains to be done. The present BJP government is committed to the state's all-round development and I can proudly say that Uttarakhand will always be among the fastest-growing states in the country," Rawat told PTI in an interview from Dehradun.

Uttarakhand became a separate state in the year 2000 during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and it will celebrate its 21st foundation day on Monday.

"Uttarakhand's pragmatic industrial policy has led to a large amount of investment coming in and a lot more is expected to come," Rawat said.

He also credited the support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government for the state's development and listed projects worth over Rs one lakh crore undertaken during the tenure of his government.

"With all these works, on one hand, for the Char Dham of Uttarakhand, passengers will be able to travel easily, on the other hand, all these plans will prove to be milestones for the development in Uttarakhand," he said.

The chief minister also said his government is committed to the all-round development of 'Devbhoomi Uttarakhand' and asserted that the formation of Devasthanam Board will help ensure the best of the facilities for pilgrims and also help in a balanced development of Char Dham and other religious places.

He also assured that the interest of all concerned -- locals, priests and pilgrims -- will be taken care of, while existing rights of priests, pandas and related rightful titleholders in temples will also remain unchanged.

Rawat also said his government is committed to the policy of "zero-tolerance against corruption".

"I assure you that no officer or person involved in corruption will be spared. Corruption destroys the system like a termite, so far more than 250 people have been prosecuted. The campaign against corruption will continue," he said.

Talking about various welfare measures undertaken by the state during the coronavirus pandemic period, Rawat said, "During the corona period, more than six lakh Uttarakhandis have come to back to the state from different cities. Keeping in mind how the migration can be stopped in rural areas, my government has worked on a policy focussed on creating employment providers and not employment seekers." "The Chief Minister Self-Employment Scheme has provided the means of self-employment to the youth by giving subsidy in more than 150 work areas. Under the Chief Minister's Solar Energy Self-Employment Scheme, 10,000 youths will get self-employment by allocating 10,000 projects of 25 KW," he said.

Rawat also referred to schemes aimed at providing subsidy for buying buses and motorbikes, as also for the appointment of forest guards, under which 10,000 people will get employment.

Our government has taken a big initiative for self-reliant Uttarakhand and "Vocal for Local", he said.

On Gairsain being declared as the summer capital, he said a comprehensive action plan is being prepared for the development of essential facilities there and structural work has already been started in certain areas.

Rawat said more than 100 growth centres have also been established by the government in areas of dairy development, integrated livelihoods project, sheep and wool development, watersheds, fisheries, khadi and village industries with more than 30,000 people getting employment opportunities under the same.

On tourism, the chief minister said, "Nature has given our state immense beauty, with picturesque plains of Himalayas on one side and the holy Ganges on the other, attracting tourists from across the country and across the world.

"The more tourists come, the more prosperous will Uttarakhand be. Tourism in Uttarakhand has been given the status of an industry. Our government has decided to develop '13 new destinations in 13 districts' in addition to the tourism destination which has been developed earlier.

"Development work has started in these new tourism destinations, while the 'homestay' scheme has helped stop migration in rural areas with local people getting employment at the local level. We also want to make the state a global tourist destination for adventure and wellness tourism," he said.

On his government's ambitious scheme of providing a water connection for Re 1 and whether it was possible, Rawat said this scheme has been praised even by the prime minister.

"Under the 'Jal Jeevan Mission', our government has made a promise to give water connection for Re 1 under 'tap water to every house' scheme. We have set a target of providing tap water to every house by 2022. We have given these water connections to more than 50,000 families in 4-5 months during the Corona period, which shows our resolve," he added.