The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

State goals being realised: CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 8
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has called upon the people of the state to make Uttarakhand an ideal state of the country. In his greetings to the people on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the formation of Uttarakhand, the Chief Minister said the goals behind the formation of the state was to ensure an all-round development of the hill regions in accordance with their peculiar geographical situation and these were being realised. These objectives also included enhancing the employment opportunities and other basic amenities in the rural and remote areas of the state with a view to stopping migration from the hill areas.

He reminded that Uttarakhand had made a remarkable progress in the field of infrastructure development and service sector over the past 10 years. The state has managed to reach the third position in the country, so far as the GDP rate is concerned. The GDP rate of Uttarakhand has reached 9.5 per cent, which was 2.9 per cent when the state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. It is really commendable keeping in the view the fact that Uttarakhand has 65 per cent forest land and a very difficult geographical situation. The state secured first position in the 20 Point Programme for effectively running poverty-alleviation programmes.

He also said Uttarakhand was placed at the first position in terms of the total number of local tourists among the Himalayan states and seventh among all states of the country. Uttarakhand has been placed at the first place in the country with 0.8086 Environment Performance Index (EPI).

Dr Nishank added an investment of Rs 95 crore was recorded in the state when the state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, but now it has reached Rs 26,000 crore. Many new industrial units have been established in Pantnagar, Haridwar, Sitarganj and Selaqui.

In his address, the Chief Minister also paid tributes to the state agitation martyrs.

Let us make U’khand an ideal state: Guv

Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has greeted all citizens on the occasion of the completion of one decade of the formation of Uttarakhand and has wished for their bright future as well as for all-round development of the state.

In a message given on the eve of State Foundation Day, the Governor said: “This is an occasion to take stock of the last 10 years’ journey on the path of development. Alongside, this is also an occasion to carry out assessment as to what degree of success have we encountered in developing the state in conformity with the dreams of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the statehood cause and the agitationists.

“In conformity with the local needs and people’s aspirations, we will have to present an outline of concrete practicable programmes for the future. Safeguarding respect and dignity of every individual citizen in the state and availability of basic amenities is their right. In order to help realise the dreams of the agitationists, let us all join hands for establishing Uttarakhand as a fully developed and an ideal state of India”.

Analysis
Uttarakhand still has a long way to go
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 8
On the 10th anniversary of the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand, the new state finds itself at the cross roads of development, politics and ecological concerns. The recent decision of the Ganga River Basin Authority to declare the 135-km stretch of the Bhagirathi river from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as eco-sensitive zone and to stop all three major hydroelectric projects on it has put the Uttarakhand government in a bind.

The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself caught in its own political web. The confusion prevailing about the development strategy vis-à-vis tapping hydroelectric potential of the state since its very formation has been worse confounded on the 10th anniversary of the state. At the time of the formation of the state on November 9, 2000, the hydroelectric potential of the state was estimated at 20,000 MW and billed as the major thrust area of development. The state at that time had a total generation capacity of 1,100 MW from existing hydroelectric projects.

The first elected Congress government of ND Tiwari did work to increase the hydro power potential by awarding various projects to public and private sector units amid protests by environmentalists and social organisations who feared a massive destruction of the fragile eco-system of the middle Himalayas.

The Congress government restarted the pending 304 MW Maneri Bhali-Phase II that got completed in 2007 but pledged to have only run-of-the-river type of projects instead of storage dams. Two power projects namely 400 MW Vishnuprayag by a private company and 180 MW Dhauli Ganga by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) were the projects that got completed besides completion of 1,000 MW Tehri project by Tehri Hydro-electric Development Corporation (THDC). The state government gets around 13 per cent of the power from these projects as royalty.

However, the trouble for the hydro power sector started in June, 2008, when environmentalist Prof GD Agarwal started his fast unto death in protest against the hydroelectric projects on the Bhagirathi citing the sentiments of the Hindu community which revered the Bhagirathi as sacred. He argued that putting the Bhagirathi river in tunnels would not only destroy the ecosystem of the river but would also hurt the sentiments of the Hindus. He got ample support from Hindu organisations particularly the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Under pressure from the party high command, the then Chief Minister, Major-Gen BC Khanduri (retd), a bit reluctantly, stopped two of the major power projects namely 480 MW Pala Maneri and 381 MW Bhairon Ghati Phase II and Phase II upstream of Uttarkashi on the Bhagirathi. Agarwal then started another fast unto death to stop work on the Lohari Nagpala project being built by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Apprehensive of the approaching Lok Sabha elections of 2009, the Union government stopped the work on the project despite spending Rs 800 crore on it.

The Uttarakhand BJP government then focused its attention on having smaller hydroelectric projects but the entire process of giving tenders of 56 such projects was mired in controversy following allegations of corruption and favouritism forcing the state government to cancel the entire process as the matter went to the High Court.

The recent decision of the Ganga River Basin Authority to declare 135-km stretch of the Bhagirathi as eco-senstive zone has given a severe blow to the efforts of the state government to tap the hydroelectric potential of its rivers on the lines of the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.

With the industrialisation and urban development of the Terai regions of Haridwar, Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar districts, the power demand has skyrocketed in the past decade but the state government would be unable to fulfil the peak demand. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has demanded 2,000 MW of free power from the Centre in lieu of the cancellation of the power projects.

The state has a demand of 2,800 million units per day but the maximum generation capacity of the state is only 2,100 million units per day, that too only during rains when dams are full. The state faces a bleak future on the power front as the state government had been forced to buy power at exorbitant rates of up to Rs 10 per unit during winter when power generation from its own sources comes down drastically.

The financial health of the state has also not been that sound as the gap between the plan and non-plan expenditure has been increasing with each passing year. The burden of arrears of new pay scales and pensions to its employees and increasing establishment expenses have led to non-plan expenditure crossing the Rs 10,000-crore mark out of a total budget of Rs 14,000 crore approximately, leaving little room for the state government to have funds for developmental schemes for which the state was formed.

Following widespread death and destruction in during an intense monsoon this year, the state government has been pressing the Union government to grant Rs 21,000 crore to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. The Central government had given a relief of Rs 500 crore and yet to decided on any further assistance.

Another major area having tremendous potential was tourism where the state could have excelled with its pristine beauty of peaks, hills and mountains, serene valleys, astonishingly beautiful meadows, forests and wildlife. But, in the past decade the state could not claim any substantial progress in building tourism infrastructure in the state.

Interestingly, as per official data, Uttarakhand has a growth rate of 9.3 per cent against 5.5 per cent at the time of the formation of the state. This could be attributed to the phenomenal increase of industry in the state following central tax benefits of excise concession and incentives by the state government enjoyed by the industry till March 31, 2010. A lot of big industrial houses have set up shop here with an estimated investment of Rs 17,000 crore, creating more than 70,000 jobs also in the Terai region.

The efforts of the state government to bring industry to the hills has failed miserably. With more than 60 per cent of the population of the state dependent on agriculture, its share in the gross state domestic product (GSDP)has come down to 23.4 per cent now from 38.8 per cent at the time of the inception of the state.

Primarily, the struggle for separate state of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh was done in protest against the marginalisation of the hills in developmental activities but even after a decade of its existence, the people living in the hills are more disillusioned and disappointed. The migration from the hills continues unabated.

Confusion over strategy vis-à-vis tapping hydroelectric potential
Gap between the plan and non-plan expenditure has been increasing with each passing year
No substantial progress in building tourism infrastructure
Migration from the hills continues unabated in the absence of industry there

‘Aspirations of hill people yet to be fulfilled’
Ajay Ramola

Peoplespeak

The Tribune spoke to a cross-section of people, who gave a mixed views tilting on the negative aspects. They say all is not well in the state and there are miles to achieve for bringing progress in the state

Mussoorie, November 8
As the state machinery prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of State Formation Day, hill people, who remained at the forefront of the statehood agitation, are yet to feel the impact of the achievements made by the state in all these years. A majority of the population of the state believes that the state was formed to address the problems of hill people, like checking migration, employment generation and development in the hills, but unfortunately the state still stands at the crossroads as no groundwork has been done towards this till date, leaving many dejected.

Journalist and active andolankari from Mussoorie Jai Prakash Uttarakhandi says the dreams for which the state was formed have been shattered. He says the state has just been converted into a political battleground for major political parties, namely the BJP and the Congress, and people of the state have been sidelined completely in the past 10 years.

The Uttarakhandi firmly believes that a bigger movement than the statehood agitation is the need of the hour in which the exploited forces like the farmers, Dalits, minorities, progressive forces have to unite once again to attain the unfulfilled dreams, till then the state will not develop in accordance to the aspirations of the people.

Mussoorie Hotel Association office-bearer HS Manchanda says it is not that the state has not achieved anything in all these years. The biggest relief is that the bureaucracy that used to stay in Lucknow before the formation of the state has now come closer to the people. The need is to remove red tape and the state will be get a fast pace on the development path.

Speaking on tourism, Manchanda says the government has completely neglected tourism and it takes ages to secure permissions for certain projects, by then other states leap forward.

Another hotelier Ram Kumar also agrees that in the past decade the common person has achieved in a way that the government can be reached easily. Ram further says the state is losing because of barrenness in the thinking of the public representatives. The major problem is of migration which has aggravated in the past decade. The situation is alarming as people living near the China border are migrating due to a lack of basic amenities. On the other hand, China has developed infrastructure on the border rapidly, be it rail line construction or dams.

Ram Kumar opines that only solution for this is to shift the capital from Dehradun to any hill area.

Jaggu Panwar, a telescope owner on the Mall Road, says tourism has suffered a set back in the town like Mussoorie and they have not been able to build their own house in all these years. The government is not thinking about them.

Readymade garment shop owner Abid Ali does not agree with Jaggu and says that the tourism is on the rise in the state, but the need is to channelise it in such a way that all benefit from it. He also believes that the onus lies with public representatives who should make an concerted effort to take the state to new heights with the support of the people.

Newspaper vendor Ansuya Negi, an andolankari, says she had actively participated in the Uttarakhand agitation with the view that her children will be provided some sort of employment, but successive governments have failed to do so and now she has lost hope in any form of movements. Women have been completely neglected despite there active role in the Uttarakhand movement, adds Ansuya.

BJP district vice-president Satish Saklani is of the view that three governments have changed hands, but there is no proper infrastructure in place which has led to migration for which both the Congress and BJP governments are to be blamed. The only way to develop the state is to get the industrial package for the state extended so that industries are set up at a rapid pace. Saklani also says the government should protect the agricultural land that is being sold for a paltry sum. Khanduri tried to contain it, but much more needed to be done, adds Saklani.

Dalit social activist Balbir Rawat is of the view that Dalits have been neglected in the state to the extent that they have to struggle for their scholarship amount. They have been completely marginalised. Till the time the condition of the Dalits is not improved in the state by providing them reservation in the contracts, etc, the state will not move forward.

Senior Congress leader Chattar Singh opines that no development has taken place in Uttarakhand due to a rampant corruption and only the elite and aristocratic class has benefited not the common person. Old people living in villages are migrating due to a lack of medical and educational facilities.

Rajya Andolankari Samman Parishad president Ravinder Jugran is of the view that the formation of the state was done to cater to the needs of the hill people and their all-round development that included employment generation, check on migration, improvement in health and education facilities, but it is unfortunate that no concrete planning has been formulated in the past 10 years for their welfare.

Tourism suffers due to lack of clear government vision
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 8
Tourism has been one of the main thrust areas for the Uttarakhand government, but it sorely suffers from lack of a clear vision, policy or action plan to take it forward. The policies thus announced are either not moving at all or are progressing at a snail’s pace. Religious tourism, which is the backbone of tourism in the state, has been hit hard this year with massive disasters triggered by rains this year. Roads, buildings and other infrastructure have been damaged to a great extent.

The state which used to spring back to revenue churning after each rain spell will not be able to do this year, as it will take longer to make the infrastructure in a workable condition. Ironically, the Tourism Department is still engaged in collecting figures from various departments to get a clear idea about the losses.

The successful completion of the Maha Kumbh this year has been the biggest achievement of the state government which had been staggering in other facets.

Projects hanging fire

The 12-ropeway projects worth Rs 350 crore started by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) in 2005-07 are moving at a pathetically slow pace because of which many projects are now being transferred from the Uttarakhand Development Corporation (UDC) to the Uttarakhand Infrastructure Project Company (UIPC) to expedite the progress of the projects. The construction work in not a single project has been started till date.

In the past 10 years, the Tourism Department has not been able to evolve any policy with regard to rafting in the 37-km stretch of Rishikesh to Kaudiyala which has emerged as the most preferred adventure sports in the state. With each passing year, altercation between rafters, Forest and Tourism Departments is intensifying which is straightaway affecting tourism and the revenue generated through it.

In its annual report presented by the Department of Eco-Tourism, four wildlife sanctuaries, out of a total 16 marked permissible for tourism, which registered zero footfall and zero revenue throughout the decade, but again the state government did not do anything to address this deficiency.

GMVN in dire straits

Already tattered, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) got a major setback after a directive of the state government which asked it to pack its bag from Auli by June 30 in the wake of SAF Winter Games. The Tourism Department is patting on its back for building two helipads at Auli and Joshimath and converting unimpressive 12-room state government accommodation into 23-room plush hotel. The environmentalists are not though happy over commercialisation of this natural scenic place.

The GMVN is in a lean position with its only 11 all-season Tourist Rest Houses (TRHs) out of a total of 91, such as in Dhanaulty, Haridwar, Muni-ki-Reti which had been bringing steady inflow of tourists throughout the year. The other 43 en route TRHs situated on pilgrimage passages like Badrinath, Barkot, Harsil make up by getting heavy tourist flow only for six months in the whole year. There are around 45 such TRHs that have either been built in remote places such as in Arakot, Barkot, Gairsain or are so badly managed that they have been intermittently giving losses to the GMVN.

Big workforce

Not merely this, a big workforce of the GMVN, comprising a huge team of 1,800 employees out of which only 800 are sanctioned, too has become a perpetual headache for the loss-making Nigam. Every now and then the workforce had been going on strike seeking regularisation of jobs. This also led to a war between former Managing Director, BVRC Purushottam and vice-president Raghunath Singh Negi. The latter also exposed the alleged irregularities committed in the selection of nine senior positions in the corporation.

The big announcement made by president, GMVN, Anil Nautiyal too seemed to have been swept under the carpet. After meeting directors of seven mandals seven months ago, he announced giving the state its first-ever five-star hotel in Kotdwar where 20-acre GMVN land is lying idle. That project too is hanging fire till date. The other announcement, which he made was about preparing a tent colony at various sites in the course of the 238-km pilgrimage stretch of Nanda Devi. Nothing has moved an inch since then.

Glimmers of hope

There have, however, been a few glimmers of hope, such as a policy on solid waste management. A solid waste management unit of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board has established four compactor units at Janki Chatti, Joshi Math, Son Prayag and Badrinath and got these functional from October, after which it has been able to segregate and process the 210 quintal waste a month from all Char Dham shrines. It has its plans to fetch good money for selling the garbage in market which till now went unpaid. VK Sharma, Nodal Officer for Solid Waste Management, said Gangotri, another very important religious destination which had been left out, also needed attention for proper garbage disposal system.

Another heartening development is the makeover of 12 villages which are going through a drastic transformation process, under a Central government scheme, which started in 2001. The total estimated value of the project stands at Rs 730.61 lakh, of which the Central government has already released Rs 606.70 lakh. The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and NGOs have been provided Rs 601.71 lakh to handle these projects, which has spent Rs 554.37 lakh till date. The villages are yet to show the results.

A bungee jumping facility started near Rishikesh is another happening news in the tourism sector. But sadly, the state, which is blessed with breathtakingly beautiful natural sites, places of great religious importance and adventure sports, has not been able to cash in on its vast treasure for want of an effective policy and impressive action plan.

Health-for-all remains distant goal
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 8
Despite a focused approach on health, Uttarakhand is yet to reach the utopian ideal of health-for-all. In 2000, the new state had inherited a creaking health infrastructure, shortage of manpower and abysmally low maternal and infant mortality rates. Ten years on, but for the advancement in infrastructure, the approach continues to be flawed.

The state has failed to review the current health policies that have neglected preventive public health services and environmental health conditions. The neglect of the latter has now pushed up communicable diseases. Cases of diseases such as dengue and malaria too have seen a rise this year. The problem is exacerbated in the absence of safe potable water and hygienic disposal of human waste, and the key to this is the building of adequate sanitation facilities.

“In the past 10 years, we have failed to identify target and procedures for reducing health related problems among mothers and infants (0-3 years). The infant mortality rate is 42 per 1,000 live births and maternal mortality rate is 301 per lakh (population of pregnant women). If at all there has been any marginal improvement in the health indicators (infant and maternal mortality rate) it is the urban areas where infrastructure has expanded, especially in the private sector but in the rural areas it has deteriorated,” said Dr HC, Director General, Health and Family Welfare.

Health indices for girls and women compare much less favourably with those for boys and men. Successive governments have recognised the inequalities in health indices and have implemented many schemes to improve women’s health. Many programmes, including the National Rural Health Mission, provide care for women, especially during pregnancy and delivery and after childbirth. Family planning programmes offer services related to contraception for women and improving their health.

“Health of women folk and children continues to pose a problem as they resist adopting family planning and spacing methods, having an adverse impact on their health. Women bear children every year without the rudimentary spacing of 24 months and this in turn results in high infant mortality rate shooting up to five times,” said Dr Bhatt.

The contraceptive prevalence rate on the state is pegged at 61 per cent as per the 2007-2008 household survey.

The focus on institutional deliveries to reduce infant and maternal mortality rate has marginally improved in the past couple of years and is yet to have an overall impact on the improvement of women’s health status.

Institutional deliveries improved from 24 per cent to 30 per cent as per the 2007-2008 survey (district-level household survey- DLHS-3). On the other hand, the highest complication in deliveries continues to be at 83.8 per cent in Champawat.

Along with the Janani Surkasha Yojana (JSY), that is aimed at reducing maternal mortality rate, the government has also lined up the Navjat Shishu Surakasha programme that entails setting up newborn corners and sick newborn care units in six hospitals for women’s in the state.

“Most of the work is hampered due to a paucity medical manpower but we have to start somewhere and the edifice is being created to improve female and child health,” said Secretary (Health) Uma Kant Panwar.

Medical manpower continues to pose a challenge to the state. There continues to be a shortage of 978 medical officers, 69 senior grade medical officers and 44 senior grade officers. Though 182 doctors were selected by the State Public Service Commission, only 80 turned up despite the government extending the deadline for the joining date. Most doctors are loath to working in the hills. Now, the government is banking on bachelor in Rural Medicine Surgery graduates.