Politicians befooling people on the issue of Gairsain as permanent capital of Uttarakhand : Justice Rakesh Thapliyal

Devendra Kumar budakoti
Sociologist.

The outburst of justice Rakesh Thapliyal of the Uttrakhand High court in Nainital on the issue of permanent capital of uttrakhand in Gairsain, once again highlighted the question of permanent capital of uttrakhand in Gairsain as his video went viral in the internet.
His outburst was based on news item in the local vernacular press where former congress leader and chief minister Harish Rawat stated that if his party is brought to power he will make Gairsain the permanent capital of uttrakhand. Justice Rakesh Thapliyal was angry that politicians have been fooling the people of uttrakhand on the question of having a permanent capital of uttrakhand in Gairsain. He also said that, had the capital been made at Gairsain, the picture of development of the state would have been far better by now, instead today witness the development of only Dehradun.

The idea of Gairsain as the capital of the state was conceived at the time when the movement for a separate state of Uttarakhand was conceptualized. When the agitation for a seperate state of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh was going on, the activists were clear that Gairsain will be the capital of the new state.

So when the new state of Uttarakhand was formed in November 2000, and as there was no infrastructure of having a capital setup at Gairsain, the political leadership and the bureaucracy found it convenient to have a temporary capital at Dehradun.

So down the years, at the time of State and central elections came up, the issue of permanent capital at Gairsain came up, but nothing came up, despite the regional party, the Uttrakhand Kranti Dal-UKD, which starred the uttrakhand movement, had alliances with both the BJP and Congress party.

Though UKD and other social and political activists have been raising the issue and have been agitating for the issue, the UKD as party has lost its credibility due to its earlier alliances with BJP and Congress party and enjoying the perks of holding ministerial post in the alliance government.

To tame the matter, the then Trivendra Rawat government declaration that Gairsain would be the summer capital of the state.

Last time some of the state MLAs wrote to the state speaker not to conduct the assembly session in Gairsain due to severe winter conditions. Imagine a state created for having been primarily a hill region and today it’s MLAs are giving excuses of cold weather.

With state assembly elections still to come in 2027, the former CM Harish Rawat, also a tall leader of the Congress party has started blowing the bulge of the Gairsain, knowing very well that Gairsain is also a emotional issue for the hill folks. People will not believe him, as he had earlier political power to do so and bu no political will to do so.

The development of Gairsain, as a new capital town will create infrastructure, initiate development of institutions, bring up welfare facilities and take the government machinery to the interiors of the hills. This will later be reflected in improved social and economic indicators, including better service delivery and active community participation in various welfare andy development interventions!