Gopeshwar, Aug 20 (PTI) A three-day monsoon session of the Uttarakhand Assembly will begin in the state’s summer capital Gairsain on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has already reached Gairsain to attend the session, said the passage of a supplementary budget of around Rs 5,000 crore is among the agenda for the session.
For the smooth conduct of the session which concludes on August 23, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita has been imposed in and around the assembly building premises in Gairsain for the period, officials said.
A day ahead of the start of the assembly session, Bhu Kanoon Samanvay Sangharsh Samiti’s convenor Mohit Dimri and several other outfits staged a fast at the Ramlila ground in Gairsain to raise several demands, including the declaration of the hill town as Uttarakhand’s permanent capital.
The protestors also demanded the framing of stricter land laws to prevent outsiders from buying land and implementation of Mool Niwas, 1950.
“A resolution on these issues must be passed by the assembly during the forthcoming session,” Dimri, said adding that the state government must take steps to preserve the identity of a hill state.
Narayan Singh Bisht, president of Sthayi Rajdhani Gairsain Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, said, “It is time for a do-or-die battle which alone can jolt the government out of its sleep. Picnicking in the name of Gairsain must stop.” The organisation’s convenor Jaswant Singh Bisht said the survival of the hill communities in the state is at risk.
“To save the hills, it is necessary to build the capital in the hills. Strict laws should be made so that people from outside cannot buy land. It is necessary to give locals their rights under Mool Niwas, 1950 so that they get first preference in jobs,” he said.
He warned that if these demands are not met, a movement bigger than the Uttarakhand statehood movement will be launched.
The BJP-led state government is being criticised for holding an assembly session in Gairsain after a gap of two years. PTI COR ALM RPA
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.