Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has urged people from the state living outside it to contribute expertise, resources and experience to the development of their ancestral villages, linking diaspora participation to rural healthcare, agriculture, tourism, entrepreneurship and employment.
Speaking at the third Uttarakhandi Expatriates Conclave in Dehradun on Friday, Dhami said the state could make greater progress through coordinated efforts between the government and its diaspora. He said people from Uttarakhand living elsewhere had brought recognition to the state through their work and achievements, and that their knowledge and resources should support development in their home villages.
The chief minister also acknowledged 30 expatriate Uttarakhand natives who had adopted their ancestral villages and contributed to their development. He described their involvement as an example of continued attachment to their homeland and social responsibility.
Dhami said the state was strengthening road, rail and air connectivity, while several major infrastructure projects were under way. He said the Song Dam project, intended to meet the drinking water requirements of Dehradun and surrounding areas for the next 50 years, was progressing. Work on the Jamrani and Lakhwar dam projects had also advanced, while an agreement had been signed for the Kishau Dam project.
The state government was also advancing an AIIMS satellite centre at Kichha, expanding Pantnagar Airport and constructing heliports, according to the chief minister. He said efforts were being made to connect major towns and tourist destinations through helicopter services, with the stated objective of supporting tourism, pilgrimage and economic activity in remote areas.
The appeal comes as the state government seeks to position tourism, agriculture, horticulture and industry as sources of employment. Dhami said initiatives were being taken to expand self-employment and employment opportunities in these sectors, particularly through stronger participation from communities and people with links to Uttarakhand.
The chief minister also highlighted government claims on recruitment, land administration and women’s livelihoods. He said transparent recruitment procedures and an anti-cheating law had helped provide government jobs to more than 35,000 young people over the past five years. He further said more than 13,000 acres of government land had been cleared of encroachments during the same period.
On rural economic participation, Dhami said around 3.5 lakh women in Uttarakhand had become ‘Lakhpati Didis’ through programmes intended to strengthen the rural economy. He announced that additional incentives would be introduced to encourage more women to become financially self-reliant.
The government would also increase the honorarium of guest teachers, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and Bhojan Matas, he said. Dhami added that government programmes could achieve their full potential only through active cooperation from all sections of society.
The announcements place the diaspora at the centre of the state’s effort to combine public infrastructure investment with local participation. The government has not provided, in the statement reported from the conclave, a separate implementation framework or funding schedule for the proposed diaspora-led village initiatives.
