-Jay Singh Rawat
Gairsain (Bhararisain) was officially declared the Summer Capital
of the state after Governor Baby Rani Maurya gave her nod to the state
government's move. Governor gave her nod in pursuance of the provisions
of clause (3) of Article 348 of the Constitution of India. The development
came three months after Chief Minister Mr. Trivendra Singh Rawat
announced on 4 March 2020 in the budget session of the assembly held at
Gairsain (Bhararisain) that the town would be made the summer capital of
the state. But on the other hand a large section of people and intelligentsia
termed the decision as an eye wash and a nightmare of people's long
cherished dream as they were demanding a full fledged hill capital of the
hill state. As per the organizations and leaders who had been associated
with historic Uttarakhand Movement the concept of the Summer Capital
or twin capitals is neither practical nor feasible for a small state like
Uttarakhand having meager resources.
The demand of Gairsain as permanent capital of Uttarakhand was
core to the indomitable statehood struggle. However, after the formation
of the state on 9 November 2000, Dehradun was made the temporary
capital of the state. The interim Government of Uttarakhand had constituted
the Dixit Commission for the search of a suitable place for permanent
capital; but the commission in its report rejected Gairsain and preferred
Dehradun ignoring public sentiments.
Chandra Singh Garhwali was the first person to propose Gairsain as
the capital of a hill state in the 1960s. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, in the
year 1992, formally declared Gairsain as the capital of the proposed state
of Uttarakhand. UKD, In the honour of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali,
named this proposed capital region as Chandranagar. A hunger strike, which
lasted for 157 days, was organised in the year 1994 in order to pressurize
the government to announce Gairsain as the capital of Uttarakhand. The
same year, a committee headed by Rama Shankar Kaushik, which was
constituted by then Mulayam Singh Yadav Government, recommended
the creation of the hill state of Uttarakhand with Gairsain as its capital.
But the Dikshit Commission narrowed down the search to 5 cities:
Dehradun, Kashipur, Ramnagar, Rishikesh and Gairsain; and after taking
8 years, submitted its 80-page report to the Uttarakhand Government on
17 August 2008. Dixit Commission's report was tabled in the state assembly
on July 13, 2008. The commission found Dehradun and Kashipur eligible
for the capital, noting "the interim capital, Dehradun, is a more suitable
place as the permanent capital owing to the factors like its distance from
national capital, centralized population and safety from natural calamities"
In 2012, the then Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna
covened a cabinet meeting in Gairsain. After the success of this meeting,
the foundation stone of a new building for the Uttarakhand Assembly was
set in the GIC Ground in the year 2013. The same year, Bhoomi Poojan
Program was organized for the Vidhan Sabha Bhavan in Bhararisain,
located about 14 km away from Gairsain. Keeping peoples sentiments a
three-day-long assembly session of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly was
held I n tents at Gairsain from 9 to 12 June 2014 during Harish Rawat
government. During Congress regime a three-day session of the
Uttarakhand assembly was called for the first time in this newly constructed
assembly building at Bhararisain that was completed in 2014. In May
2014, a decision was taken by Harish Rawat government to constitute
'Gairsain Development Council' by merging the blocks of Gairsain in
Chamoli and Chaukhutia in Almora.
On 4 March 2020, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat announced in the Legislative Assembly of the state during budget session that Gairsain would be the summer Capital of the state. An official notification to this effect was issued on 8 June 2020 by the government after the Governor, Baby Rani Maurya gave her assent to the move. A session of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly was held on 17 and 18 November 2016 for the first time in the newly constructed, grand Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly building at Bhararisain, some 14 km. away from Gairsain. Much important legislations were passed during the session. The assembly also resolved to hold the next budget session at Bhararisain.
No comments:
Post a Comment