Sachin Uttarakhand: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami chaired the 10th meeting of Rural Development and Migration Prevention Commission, Uttarakhand, at Chief Minister residence on Friday. He stated that the problem of migration has been a major challenge for the state, but in the last four to five years, state government has taken several important steps towards encouraging reverse migration.
The Chief Minister said that numerous schemes have been implemented to increase the means of livelihood for people in rural areas. Under these schemes, subsidies are also being provided to eligible beneficiaries on taking loans, which is providing momentum to the rural economy.
Special emphasis on Pravasi Panchayats and wedding destination development
Chief Minister instructed officials to organise Pravasi Panchayats across the state, in which migrants working within the country and abroad should be invited. They should be informed about the state government initiatives related to reverse migration and their suggestions should also be obtained. The Chief Minister also instructed members of the commission to go to other states to provide information about the work done by state government for reverse migration, as well as to study innovations related to preventing migration and promoting reverse migration.
He said that 25 new sites in the state should be developed as wedding destinations on the lines of Triyuginarayan. Special attention should be paid to all basic facilities at these sites. Emphasis was also laid on promotion of small industries for the development of hilly areas.
Encouraging results in the direction of reverse migration
Vice Chairman of the Rural Development and Migration Prevention Commission, Dr. S.S. Negi, informed that a trend of reverse migration is now being seen in the rural areas of the state. So far, about 6282 people have returned to their villages. This includes people who returned from within the country and from abroad. Most of the people are working in fields of tourism and small industries and are moving towards self-reliance.
During the meeting, members of the commission presented several creative suggestions to give further momentum to reverse migration.
Present in the meeting were Secretary Vinay Shankar Pandey, Dhiraj Garbyal, Dr. Sridhar Babu Addanki, Shri C. Ravishankar, Additional Secretary Anuradha Pal, Dr. Meherban Singh Bisht, Chandra Singh Dharmshaktu, Santosh Badoni, Suresh Joshi and members of the Rural Development and Migration Prevention Commission Anil Singh Shahi, Dinesh Rawat, Suresh Suyal, Ram Prakash Painuly and Ranjana Rawat.
