Sachin Uttarakhand: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in the Sampoornata Abhiyan Samman Samaroh programme at Mukhya Sevak Sadan, Dehradun on Friday. On this occasion, Chief Minister honoured the districts and blocks that performed best in the Aspirational District programme and Aspirational Block programme with citations and medals provided by NITI Aayog, Government of India. On this occasion, Chief Minister also released the book titled “Uttarakhand at 25: A Himalayan State with Infinite Possibilities”.
Uttarakhand districts Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar were awarded for excellent performance in fulfilling the standards set under the Aspirational District programme run by NITI Aayog and Gadarpur, Mori and Syalde blocks were awarded for achieving remarkable accomplishments under the Aspirational Block programme.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that unprecedented improvements have been made in important areas such as health, education, nutrition, agriculture, infrastructure, social development and financial inclusion through the Aspirational District and Aspirational Block programmes. He said it is a matter of pride that Haridwar district achieved the best position in the country in 2022 in the ranking of aspirational districts released by NITI Aayog. Meanwhile, in the category of development blocks, Gadarpur, Mori and Syalde have achieved the best positions.
The Chief Minister said that under the capable leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, overall development of the country is taking place. The state government is continuously working for development of the state with the mantra of “Saralikaran, Samadhan, Nistaran and Santushti”. Infrastructure is being strengthened in all major sectors such as education, health, roads, sports, drinking water and air connectivity. Rapid work is also being done towards making a Developed India and Developed Uttarakhand through initiatives like Vocal for Local, Make in India and Start-up India.
The Chief Minister said that the Global Investors Summit was organised in the year 2023 to promote investment in the state. In this summit, MoUs worth more than ₹3.56 lakh crore were signed, out of which investment proposals worth more than ₹1 lakh crore have been grounded. Along with this, licensing process has been made easier for industries by developing a single window system.
Chief Minister said that to promote local economy and tourism in the state, schemes like One District Two Products, House of Himalayas, State Millet Mission, Farm Machinery Bank, Apple Mission, New Tourism Policy, New Film Policy, Homestays, Wed in Uttarakhand and “Saur Swarojgar Yojana” are being operated. He said that through House of Himalayas, wide recognition is being given to Uttarakhand traditional products at the national and international levels.
The Chief Minister said that the state has had a stellar performance in various national and international rankings of the country. Uttarakhand secured the first position in the country in the Sustainable Development Goals index released by NITI Aayog. Our state remained in the achievers category in Ease of Doing Business. He said that by bringing a record 4.4 percent reduction in the state unemployment rate, the work of even surpassing the national average has been done. In the Government of India State Mining Preparedness Index, Uttarakhand got second position in the country in Category-C, which is proof of transparent and efficient management of resources.
Chief Minister said that the state single window system has been awarded in the top achievers category. The state has also established many records in the field of tourism. The national awards for Best Wildlife Destination and Best Adventure Destination have established Devbhoomi more strongly on the world tourism map. In the National Tourism Awards 2024, Jakhol, Harshil, Gunji and Supi villages were declared as the best tourism villages. The Chief Minister said that only when there is right intention, noble purpose and firm determination can we deliver the benefits of government schemes to the person standing at the last mile.
It is noteworthy that the Aspirational District programme was started by NITI Aayog, Government of India in the year 2018. Out of 112 districts across the country under the programme, 2 districts of Uttarakhand (Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar) were selected as aspirational districts. Udham Singh Nagar district got the second position in education among all aspirational districts of the country in July 2019 and in the field of financial inclusion and skill development in November 2020. Udham Singh Nagar district got the third position in the agriculture sector in August 2021 and the first position in the agriculture sector in July 2022. Haridwar district got the first position among all aspirational districts in July 2019 and the first position in the field of basic facilities in June 2022. Haridwar district achieved the first position among all aspirational districts in July 2022 and second position in the field of health and nutrition in July 2022.
Similarly, the Aspirational Block programme was launched in January 2023. Under the programme, 500 development blocks of the country were selected. A total of 6 development blocks of Uttarakhand- Bahadrabad from Haridwar district, Dugadda from Pauri Garhwal, Mori from Uttarkashi, Gadarpur from Udham Singh Nagar, Syalde from Almora and Kapkot from Bageshwar were selected as aspirational blocks. A target was set by NITI Aayog for saturation of 6 indicators for the districts and blocks, in which 3 aspirational blocks among the selected blocks of the state have achieved saturation by performing excellently in more than 3 out of 6 indicators through efforts of the government.
On the occasion of the programme, Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, MLA Khajan Das, MLA Umesh Sharma Kau, MLA Savita Kapoor, Principal Secretary R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Dr. Shridhar Babu Addanki, Director Dr. Manoj Pant and other people were present.
