New U'khand govt focuses on stopping migration from hills

The new Trivendra Singh Rawat government will frame a policy to stop migration from hills in search of work and revive the cow protection law passed by the previous BJP government.
"Considering the strategic importance of the state, migration from border villages is a major cause for concern. Steps will be taken to ensure there is no exodus of population from border villages.
"A solid policy will be framed to stop migration from the hills," Rawat today said at his first press conference after becoming the chief minister.
Migration from the hills is one of the biggest issues facing Uttarakhand. People in border villages keep deserting them for a better life in big towns and cities.

Lack of proper health and education facilities in the remote hill areas is also one of the reasons for the exodus of local population from the hills.
Expressing concern over a number of industries shutting down in the state in recent years, he said the new government will look into the factors which have led to this and work to revive the industries.

(REOPENS DES17)
The Chief Minister, who along with his cabinet colleague Madan Kaushik conducted a cleanliness drive along the banks of the Ganga at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar this morning, said it was his way of sending a strong message about cleaning the river and maintaining its relentless flow.

Other members of his council of ministers, including Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Prakash Pant and Subodh Uniyal, participated in similar cleanliness drives at other places in the state.
Rawat is also the National Convenor of the Namami Gange programme.
Promising to give a clean and transparent government to the people of the state, the Chief Minister said all decisions taken by the previous government will be reviewed and if something is wrong with them they could even be reversed.
He also spoke of his plans to strengthen Garhwal-Kumaon connectivity, saying the compulsion of going from Garhwal to Kumaon via Uttar Pradesh should not be there.

Replying to a question, he said nepotism will be discouraged and only deserving bureaucrats will get extensions.
He said effective steps will be taken to pull the state out of heavy debts.
"We are a heavily debt-ridden state. We owe Rs 45,000 crore. We will explore how we can pull the state out of the heavy burden of debts," Trivendra said.