Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 62 development projects worth Rs 1,475.31 crore in Dehradun on Friday during the Uttarakhand State Foundation Day celebrations, and presented the President’s Colour to the Uttarakhand Police. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami joined Shah at the event held at the Parade Ground in Dehradun. Of the total package, 18 completed projects worth Rs 402.20 crore were inaugurated, while foundation stones were laid for 44 projects worth Rs 1,073.11 crore. In his address, Shah spoke of 63 projects worth about Rs 1,508 crore being taken up on the day.
The projects cover roads, electricity, drinking water, education, healthcare, tourism, urban development and other basic infrastructure facilities across Uttarakhand. The inaugurated projects are completed works that are now open for public use, while the foundation stones mark new works that will be built over the coming months. Shah said Uttarakhand would be the first milestone in India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, and credited the government led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with creating the state in 2000. He also highlighted development work worth Rs 270 crore being carried out in 51 border villages under the Vibrant Village programme.
In a separate ceremony at the Police Lines in Dehradun, Shah presented the President’s Colour to the Uttarakhand Police, making it the 16th police force in the country to receive the honour. Chief Minister Dhami expressed gratitude to the Union Home Minister for the conferment. Shah and Dhami also honoured 15 people with the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman, along with recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bal Veerta Puraskar, at the Foundation Day event.
Addressing Bharatiya Janata Party workers, Shah set the target of a BJP hat-trick in Uttarakhand, urging door-to-door outreach so that the party wins 65 of the 70 assembly seats in the polls due next year. In the same address, he attacked Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over the opposition’s recent rallies on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, describing them as a campaign to protect infiltrators. The Congress had not responded to the remarks in the reports available at the time of writing.
Uttarakhand was formally created on 9 November 2000, and the state is marking the 26th anniversary of its creation this year. Uttarakhand Divas is observed annually on 9 November. The Foundation Day programme in Dehradun brought together the state’s top leadership a few days ahead of the anniversary, with the development package and the President’s Colour presentation as the centrepieces of the celebrations.
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