U'khand CM highlights steps taken for development of remote hill areas

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today highlighted the steps taken by his government for the development of remote hill areasof the state, including Tharali, which goes to polls on May 28.

Addressing an election meeting in support of BJP nominee from the Assembly segmentMunni Devi in Tharali, Rawat said his government sanctioned Rs 25 crore for the construction of 55 km of roads in the constituency, besides starting a bus service between Tharali and Nandprayag on the request of late local MLA Magan Lal Shah.

Munni Devi, widow of ex-MLA Shah, filed her nominations from the seat earlier in the day. Shah's death earlier this year necessitated bypoll to the reserved seat of Tharali.

The chief minister also spoke of other remote areas of Chamoli district where better health facilities were created by the BJP government.

Himni village was made digital and connected via tele-medicine with the Apollo hospital in New Delhi, he said.

Two high-tech schools of international standards will soon be opened, one each in the Kumaun and Garhwal regions, which will impart quality education to children from lower income group families at minimum fee, Rawat said.

Describing the welfare of defence personnel and their families as the BJP government's top priority, he spoke of implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) by the Modi government.

The chief minister spoke of his own visits to the Nelang Valley and Badahoti on the borders and said the Uttarakhand government was the first in the country to take the decision of giving jobs to the dependents of Army and paramilitary personnel.

An ADM-level officer will soon be appointed in all the districts as the nodal officer to ensure redressal of problems faced by military personnel, he said.

He said Munni Devi had a good understanding, as a Zila Panchayat president, of the problems faced by the people of the area and was the most appropriate person to represent the constituency in the state Assembly.