The people of Uttarakhand can look forward for many positive developments in the year 2020. With the state gearing itself to oragnise, Kumbh Mela in the year 2021 at Haridwar on a mega scale, many infrastructure projects in and around Haridwar are in progress. The state government has taken up a target to complete all these works in the year 2020.
A total of Rs 500 Crore are expected to be spent on these works. The ambitious ‘All weather road’, is also expected to get completed in the year 2020. When completed, the Rs 12,000 Crore, 889 km long road would have a huge positive impact on the economy of the state. The work on Rishikesh—Karnprayag rail link would also get pace in this year.With environmental clearance for the Jamrani dam on river Gaula in Nainital district, the work on the project is expected to get a boost soon. The work on Song dam project and Suryadhar Lake in Dehradun district would get a boost this year. The lake would provide gravity water to Dehradun city.
The progress of the projects conceptualised during the ‘Destination Uttarakhand- Investors summit- 2018’ would also be watched with interest this year. Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs 124,000 Crore were reached between State Government and entrepreneurs during the summit.
The State Government has claimed that 391 projects worth Rs 17,246 Crore so far have reached grounding (execution) level. The state government is hopeful that at about 47000 people would get jobs in these projects once they become operational.
The air on the important Kandi road connecting the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of Uttarakhand is also expected to be cleared this year. The road when complete would reduce the distance between the two divisions of the state and is one of very old demand of the people. In health sector the ambitious Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana (AAUY) is expected to get further momentum.
So far golden cards of 34.25 lakh beneficiaries belonging to 14.29 lakh families have been made.
The state health agency is planning to make the golden cards of all the left out beneficiaries in January 2020. AAUY provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per annum to all 23 lakh families of Uttarakhand in the panelled hospitals under the scheme.
Patients can avail benefit of the scheme for 1350 types of diseases in these hospitals. For treatment in the private empanelled hospitals, the patients are needed to be referred from the government hospitals. A total of 101 government and 74 private hospitals so far have been included in the panel for the scheme. The health department has also taken a target to set up Intensive Care Units (ICU) in all the districts in the year 2020. The department is also expected to receive 314 new medical officers this year.
With Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat directing officials to fill all the vacancies in various departments, the unemployed can expect mega recruitment drives by the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UPSSC) and Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (USSSC) this year.
