To end corruption, every individual will have to fight the social evil: Rawat

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat Wednesday said corruption can be rooted out completely when every individual begins a fight against the social evil at the personal level.

During an interaction with students here, Rawat also spoke of steps taken by the state government in pursuance of its policy of zero-tolerance for corruption.

The government is taking several steps to eradicate corruption, but total elimination of the evil can happen only when every individual begins fighting it at a personal level, he said.

The chief minister was speaking to the students at the launch of a programme 'Young Uttarakhand- Towards Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment' at the Parade Ground.

"While the state government is doing its part to wipe out corruption, each one of us will have to cultivate an attitude of neither indulging in corruption nor tolerating it in any form. Then only can society be totally freed from the grip of the deep rooted vice," Rawat said replying to a question from a student, Isha Joshi, from Almora about the persistence of corruption in public life despite the state government's policy of zero-tolerance to it.

Rawat also asked the students to keep an eye on people indulging in corruption around them and bring such matters to the notice of the state government so that punitive measures can be taken against such elements.

The chief minister also appealed to students to avail of employment opportunities being created in different departments.

He said the investment summit held by the state government last year had brought a huge volume of investments to the state.

Out of the total volume of investments, work on the ground has begun on investments worth Rs 13,000 crore in the last five months.This will generate employment opportunities for 20,000 people, Rawat said.

To another question about tourism activities being confined to just a few well known places, Rawat said tourism has been granted the status of an industry in the state and 13 new destinations, one each in every district, is being created to create self employment opportunities for the youth.

"The number of tourists visiting Uttarakhand is constantly on the rise. Well known tourist spots like Mussoorie and Nainital have already reached a saturation point.

"Hence, we have launched a scheme named '13 districts, 13 new destinations' with focus on adventure tourism, water sports, mountaineering and winter sports to attract high-end tourists, he said.

Thirteen theme-based tourist destinations will be developed under the scheme. These will bring about a major change in the scenario by boosting tourism traffic and generating self-employment opportunities for locals, Rawat said.

This would also be effective in stopping migration from the hill villages, the chief minister asserted.

"Making 5,000 home stays is our target out of which 802 new home stays have already been created for tourists. Electricity is being provided at these facilities at domestic rates while adventure tourism is being provided facilities of small and mini industries," he said.

The chief minister said a ropeway between Mussoorie and Kedarnath will soon be built.

Over 10,000 students from all over the state attended the programme and a large number of them became part of it through video conferencing.

OYO CEO Aditya Ghosh addressed the students encouraging them to dream big and have the drive which is needed to fulfil them.