U'khand CM seeks special financial package from Centre

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today sought a special financial package from the Centre for redevelopment of more than 337 villages in the state.
Addressing a meeting of NITI Aayog here, he also said the State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) Bill will be placed in the Assembly for its passage after its approval from the GST Council.
He asked the Centre for a special package for redevelopment of more than 337 villages, an annual green bonus of Rs 4,000 crore and an annual compensation of Rs 2,000 crore for the losses on account of implementation of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.

He said six sectors -- horticulture, tourism, energy, information technology, forestry and herbs -- have been identified as growth engines under the state's vision for socio-economic development in the next 15 years.
To double farmers' income by 2020, Rawat said special emphasis is being laid on organic farming, agricultural marketing and scientific agriculture, among others.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Rawat also laid emphasis on the need to create separate ministry or a special cell in NITI Ayog for making development strategies for the hill states.
He requested the telecommunication department for providing mobile connectivity in 3,086 villages to help realise the vision of Digital India.

Uttarakhand has 16,793 villages, out of which 13,707 villages have mobile connectivity.
Rawat also advocated changes in some of the provisions of Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone to allow certain types of construction for the development of the region.