Fiscal mess: New CM faces uphill task

SMA Kazmi

Winning a massive mandate in the recently concluded state Assembly elections, the Uttarakhand BJP (BJP) led by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, a former RSS pracharak, faces an uphill task in tackling the the problems of corruption, unemployment,  migration from hills and making the inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy accountable.

The state has been facing an acute financial crisis. The previous Congress government had been critical of the BJP-led Union Government for “not providing” sufficient funds for various development schemes. The Centre, on the other hand, had blamed the state government for its inability to complete the previous schemes to ask for more funds.

With the BJP now ruling both at the Centre and the state, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who has been handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, the people are hopeful that the Central Government would be liberal in assisting the state in financial matters. The new state government claims that already 20 projects under the “Namame Ganga” project worth Rs 877 crore  have been approved by the Centre.

The Chief Minister, during his first week in office, has taken some decisions which have become controversial. Apart from the usual rhetoric of starting the cleanliness drive as part of the PM’s “Swatchhtha Abhiyan,” the Chief Minister also announced Kandi road to connect the Kumoan region with Garhwal.  The road passes through the world-famous Corbett National Park, home to tigers and elephants.

Environmentalists are up in arms against the decision. They feel that traffic on the road may endanger wildlife inside the park. Already, a campaign against the decision has been launched by wildlife activists on the social media.

Also, the Chief Minister has decided to order a CBI probe into the alleged scandal regarding compensation to those whose land was acquired for widening National Highway 74 in Bazpur, Kashipur, Jaspur and Sitarganj tehsils of Udham Singh Nagar district.  The officials “fraudulently” changed land use records to pay huge sums as compensation. All this was done allegedly in connivance with revenue and administrative officials. The Chief Minister, besides ordering a CBI probe, has said he would initiate measures to strengthen the office of the state Lokayukta.

Security for Yogi’s kin 

The state BJP government has decided to provide police security to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s aged parents, who live in their native village of Panchaur in Yamkeshwar tehsil of Pauri Garhwal district. A large number of people and mediapersons are making a beeline for the village.