CII session on ‘Uttarakhand’s Next Decade of Development’

Dehradun , March 13
The role of the government in development is to ensure availability of public goods, create an enabling policy and regulatory environment and provide good governance, said Alok Kumar Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand, at the CII Uttarakhand annual session held here today. The theme of the session was “Uttarakhand’s Next Decade of Development.”

Elaborating on the various infrastructure initiatives of the government, Jain said that the power deficit would be addressed by 2016 through capacity addition and also refurbishing of existing generation capacity. Improved connectivity and an enabling policy environment are other key priorities, he added. Jain also emphasised on the importance of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the role of the industry.

Jain presented the CII Uttarakhand Annual Green Award to Himalayan Action Research Centre (HARC) for it’s outstanding work in the field of promoting agriculture and sustainable livelihoods in the hills of Uttarakhand. Mahendra Singh Kunwar, chief functionary, HARC, accepted the award. While thanking the CII for the award, Kunwar said logistics was a key challenge that needed to be addressed for hill development.

Addressing the session, Rakesh Sharma, Principal Secretary, Industrial Development, emphasised on the need for improving the industrial infrastructure further, especially in the hills. Giving the example of China, Sharma highlighted the need for connectivity to the remotest parts of the state for achieving high economic growth rates. Sharma also stressed on the need for focusing on skill infrastructure, specially the ITIs and polytechnics. He urged the industry to come forward and take a lead in this area.

Moderating the session, Dr R S Tolia, former Chief Secretary, former CIC, Uttarakhand, said that high levels of poverty, specially in the hills, is a prime concern. This, he said, can be addressed only through agri-based interventions. He strongly recommended strengthening of the planning institutions and the state taking advantage of the priorities set by the next (12th) Five Year plan.

Earlier, Vijay K Thadani, Chairman, CII, Northern Region, and CEO, NIIT, emphasised on the importance of bringing in the important element of skill development into the education framework. This, he said, would help enhance the employability of the local youth.

Dr S. Farooq, Chairman, CII, Uttarakhand State Council, Uttarakhand, said that state had witnessed impressive economic growth. It had also made good progress on the social development front, having achieved the greatest increase in the human development index between 1999 and 2008 amongst all states. However, many challenges remain, including challenge of hill development, poverty, sustaining the growth momentum, livelihood generation etc. The session aims to deliberate as to what should be the priorities of the state for the next 10 years, he added.

The session was well attended by over 100 delegates from industry, institutions, government, academia, NGOs and media. Rakesh Aggarwal, Vice-Chairman, CII, Uttarakhand, proposed the vote of thanks.