U'khand CM seeks green bonus from Planning Commission

Citing the state's large forest cover, the Uttarakhand government has sought Rs 2,000 crore per annum as 'Green bonus' from the 14th Planning Commission.
The demand was made by Chief Minister Harish Rawat at a meeting with a visiting Planning Commission team headed by Dr Y V Reddy at the secretariat here yesterday.
The Chief Minister asked the Planning Commission to take into account the hill state's unique geographical identity and the large scale damage caused by the natural calamity that hit the state in June last year, while finalising the quantum of assistance to be given to the state, an official release here said.

Other factors that should be considered are high cost of public utilities in the hill state, small size of local bodies and the need to boost public sector investments due to reluctance of private investors to invest in the hilly districts, he said.
The state has diverse geographical conditions with 65 per cent of its land covered by forests, he said.
After Uttarakhand was separated from Uttar Pradesh, the pace of development in the state was faster than before, but the withdrawal of industrial package and the 2013 natural calamity adversely affected its growth rate, Rawat said.
Roads, bridges, drinking water projects and basic infrastructure like power and communication facilities suffered extensive damage in the mid-June flash-floods which also dealt a blow to tourism, leading to large scale loss of jobs with the sector being the principal source of livelihood for people of the state, the Chief Minister said.