Chief Minister requested to make specific policies for the Himalayan states in the meeting of NITI Aayog

*Chief Minister requested to make specific policies for the Himalayan states in the meeting of NITI Aayog*

*-Requested to allow the states to approve and implement hydropower projects of less than 25 MW capacity to meet the energy shortage*

*-Requested to implement the proposal of 24 percent capital subsidy for the construction of small hydropower projects in Himalayan states along with the North-Eastern states*

*The Chief Minister also requested to include lift irrigation in the guidelines of ‘PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana’*

Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, while participating in the NITI Aayog’ meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, said that Uttarakhand is also continuously working towards fulfilling the goal of *Viksit Bharat* of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Uttarakhand is a very sensitive state in terms of disaster, keeping this in view, he thanked the Prime Minister for making special financial provision in this year’s Union Budget. He said that Uttarakhand has secured the first position in the recently released Sustainable Development Goals Index ranking, which is a matter of pride for the state. The Chief Minister said that under the guidance of the Prime Minister, the state has passed the ‘Uniform Civil Code’ Bill in Uttarakhand.

The Chief Minister said that a serious crisis of drinking water has been seen in many cities of the country, to solve this problem, there is a need to work on water conservation along with increasing the ground water level. For this, Spring and River Rejuvenation Authority has been formed in Uttarakhand, which is working on the project of water conservation and reviving water sources and connecting snow-based rivers with rain-based rivers. He requested special financial assistance and technical support from the Central Government for this.

The Chief Minister said that for a *Viksit Bharat* , there is a need to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas, for which cluster based incubation centers and growth centers will prove to be important. Two rural incubation centers and 110 growth centers have been established in Uttarakhand as a pilot project. He requested the Central Government for technical and financial support to set up incubation centers. To meet the energy shortage, the Chief Minister requested the states to allow the approval and implementation of hydropower projects of less than 25 MW capacity and to implement the proposed 24 percent capital subsidy for the construction of small hydropower projects in the Himalayan states along with the North-Eastern states. The Chief Minister also requested to include lift irrigation in the guidelines of ‘PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana’.

The Chief Minister said that we also need to pay special attention to important topics like global warming and climate change. In view of this, the Uttarakhand government is paying special attention to running development schemes in coordination with ecology and economy. The issuance of GEP on the lines of GDP has been started in the state.

The Chief Minister said that in any developed nation, its urban areas make a special contribution as a growth engine. It becomes difficult to provide basic facilities in these cities due to excessive population. To solve this problem, ‘counter magnet areas’ will have to be developed between different cities of the country. He said that there is a need to pay special attention to AI readiness and quantum readiness for the concept of Viksit Bharat by the year 2047 for research, development and innovation.

The Chief Minister said that in the eighth meeting of NITI Aayog last year, some proposals related to the development of Himalayan states were put forward, he requested to make specific policies in the context of Himalayan states on those proposals.