The state has only two projects by the Modi government.
New Delhi: The untimely death of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat is, no doubt, a big loss for the country but it is a bigger setback for his home state Uttarakhand. He was a great hope for the residents of this hill state, as he used to be concerned about the development of his home state all the time.
He used to say that Uttarakhand had the potential to create its own unique identity on the world map if the planning was done properly. Ironically, there is no road connectivity to his village Sainj till today. None of the BJP’s three chief ministers over the last four years could get a road constructed in General Rawat’s village Sainj which is just 43 kms away from Pauri headquarters. In fact, this paints the real picture of the development status of Uttarakhand ever since it came into existence 20 years ago. The hill was cheated in the name of development, with hundreds of villages still struggling for infrastructure. Most of the MLAs and MPs made it a point to ensure self-development. No work is allegedly done without commission or cut. Those who developed included only land mafia, mining mafia, liquor mafia, hotel mafia, and so on and so forth. An honest probe will reveal they have developed due to backing of public representatives. The open mining in rivers around Kotdwar, Ramnagar, Haldwani and Dehradun is self-explanatory. Hotels were built violating safety norms. They are inviting accidents any time. Land mafia are vying to buy plots at throwaway prices with the blessings of leaders. Hill people also started settling down in the terai or plane region. After the new delimitation process, hill regions may be left with just a few seats due to dwindling voter strength. On his visit to Dehradun recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the water and youth of the hills will be used for the hill region only. PM Modi sincerely wants the development of Uttarakhand as his ambitious projects are making an impact. But the question is about the intention of the ministers and MLAs of his party. The answer is that the intention does not seem to be good. Voters want most legislators to be defeated. Most of them have settled down in Dehradun instead of living in their constituencies. Only 8-10 MLAs could manage to win if the party does not have a strong face of PM Modi. If BJP retains Uttarakhand in the upcoming poll it will be purely because of PM Modi’s popularity.
State government works on the recommendation of MLAs and that is where commission is taken. When the BJP got massive seats in Uttarakhand in the Modi wave, development was expected in the state. But nothing happened. For four years, there was a massive competition among ministers allegedly to make money. As a result, three CMs were changed. The opposition remained weak, with Congress having failed to build any movement against all this all these years. Harish Rawat was sent to the state in the election year. Now he is struggling on his own, with the opposition finding it difficult to counter the strong Modi wave.
Needless to say, PM Modi gave too much importance to Uttarakhand. All the top posts in security establishments were occupied by the officers from Uttarakhand. Before becoming CDS, Gen Bipin Rawat was the army chief. Ajit Doval from the state is the NSA. Moreover, RAW chief Anil Dhasmana, DGMO Anil Bhatt and Coast Guard head Rajendra Singh were all from Uttarakhand. Some of the officers in the PMO hail from this state. The hill people were happy when Gen Bipin Rawat of Uttarakhand was the army chief and who later became CDS. PM Modi gave such a big responsibility of national security to Doval and Rawat who proved their capability too. PM Modi’s policies were successful be it regarding the internal or external security matter. So, Gen Rawat’s demise is a major setback for PM Modi as well. It was PM Modi who had created the post of CDS and Gen Rawat became the first CDS. Gen Rawat was a great votary for development in Uttarakhand.
The state has only two projects of the Modi government. One is an all weather road and the second is train connectivity to Badrinath. But there is no other development on education, health and employment fronts, leading to exodus from the hill region. What is ironic is that the Pauri district is craving for development, from where Gen Rawat hailed. Even NSA Doval, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and many other former CMs belong to this district. Yogi went to Kotdwar Degree College for education but the main road there is in dilapidated condition. Similarly, there is no decision as yet on the Kandi road connecting Haridwar to Nainital. This road could play an important role in the development of Pauri. A big portion of the road from Pauri to Srinagar that passes through dozens of villages such as Kyark, Amkot could not be constructed even after 20 years. With all this in view, the real tribute to Gen Rawat will be the honest approach to the developmental mission of Uttarakhand.