Uttarakhand Governor Lt. Gen. Gurmit Singh on March 29 said improving health and educational facilities is the topmost priority for the State government, which is working constantly to promote the Ayush system of medicine besides making treatment easily available to people.
Addressing the first session of the newly elected State Assembly on Tuesday, he said the State government proposes to set up two Adarsh Sanskrit boarding schools, one each in Kumaon and Garhwal regions.
An innovative and experimental approach to education had led to the creation of 189 Atal Utkrisht Vidyalayas, which have been conceived as model government schools, making quality education accessible to all sections, he said.
“Setting up of online real-time forum in accordance with the National Education Policy, 2020, is also proposed apart from making digital reading material available to students and a students learning dashboard. New syllabi is proposed to be introduced by the Technological Education Department to develop the State into a knowledge hub,” he said.
Describing the improvement of health facilities as the State government’s top priority, Mr. Singh spoke of steps being taken to strengthen hospitals and increase the availability of doctors. “As many as 403 doctors have been selected under the Provincial Medical Health Service cadre, X-ray technicians have been deployed in remote areas and the process of filling vacancies for 40 dental hygienists is under way,” he said.
“In-principle approval has been given to the upgrade of community health centres into hospitals with 100 beds in Someshwar of Almora district and Raipur in Dehradun district. Maternal and child health services are also improving in the State as a result of the State government’s efforts,” he said.
Under the Mukhya Mantri Anchal Amrit Yojana, 2.56 lakh children aged 3-6 years coming to anganwadis are being provided milk for four days in a week, Mr. Singh said. He also made a special mention of the Mukhya Mantri Vatsalya Yojana under which children who lost their parents or guardians to the COVID-19 pandemic are to be paid a monthly allowance of ₹3,000 up to the age of 21.
Talking about new dam projects, the Governor said a 136.60 metre concrete gravity dam is proposed to be constructed over the Gaula river, 10km upstream of Haldwani as part of the Jamrani dam multipurpose Project.
A drinking water dam project over the Song river is also proposed to be constructed, which will ensure uninterrupted water supply to residents of Dehradun and its suburban areas. Villages with over 50% of Scheduled Castes population have been selected for re-development under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, he said.
The pension given to former soldiers of World War II and their widows has been increased from ₹8,000 per month to ₹10,000 and a martyrs' memorial is being built at Guniyalgaon in Dehradun with the soil collected from courtyards of soldiers who died fighting for their country, the Governor said.
Praising the State government for its endeavours in the field of air connectivity, he said the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Department was given an award under the Most Proactive State category for successfully conducting a regional connectivity scheme under which heliports are being constructed at identified spots in the State.
The Governor highlighted the steps being taken to create better disaster management facilities such as early warning systems and doppler radars being installed for floods and other disaster alerts.
“The doppler radar installed at Mukteshwar in Nainital district has begun operating successfully while work is under way for installing two doppler radars one each in Surkanda and Lansdowne,” he said.
"I have tried to sum up the development initiatives taken by our government in the last financial year and the ones in the pipeline during the next. The government is committed to work with dedication to achieve its goals. We will make efforts to maintain social harmony so that all sections of society live in peace with each other," he said.
