U'khand progressed a lot, still has long way to go: Paul

Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul today while acknowledging the progress achieved by the state amid several "odds in the past 15 years of its existence", said that it still has a long way to go in terms of development.
"We will have to make the life of common man easier to become a model state. In the past 15 years of its existence Uttarakhand has achieved a lot despite odds but what has been done so far is not enough," the governor said in his message to the people of the state on the occasion of the Republic Day.
Referring to his visits to the remote hill areas of the state during last one year of his tenure, Paul said that he had found that a majority of villages lacked basic education and health facilities.

Schools in the state do not have enough teachers and hospitals lack adequate number of doctors, he said.
Noting that absence of basic facilities leads to migration from the hills which is a cause of concern, Paul said the state government will have to remove the gap between the "haves and have nots".
The state government will have to focus on areas which can help empower the common man and make his life easier to accelerate the development of the state, he said.

Paul, however, praised the state government for its steps to rebuild lives in areas ravaged by the 2013 flash floods and said the scars left by the tragedy have almost "disappeared".

"All our pilgrimage centres are now ready to welcome visitors but we must always be prepared to deal with landslides and earthquakes," he said.
Paul also underlined the need for "judicious" use of the state's natural resources to deal with the effects of climate change.