Vision U-K: 2025

Draft “1”
November 20, 2007

VISION - 2025

PERSPECTIVE PLAN

Prepared and Published by

UTTARAYANI

(A Society Registered under
Societies Act No. S-30390 of 1996)

MISSION, GOAL, AND OBJECTIVES OF
UTTARAKHAND STATE

Mission

To develop Uttarakhand state into the best rated state in the country offering its residents highest order of educational, health, security, nutritional, creative, religious and entrepreneurial opportunities together with highest order of environmental conditions.

Goal

To build an educated and highly creative egalitarian society that distinguishes itself through time tested value systems and rich traditions and contributes to the betterment of quality of life for all in the state and elsewhere.

Objectives

To improve the eco-system in the state on sustained basis for highest quality of land, water and air resources
o develop educational facilities in the state at primary, secondary, vocational, and university level that are relevant to the most contemporary developments at global level in the backdrop of rich traditions and cultural values of Uttarakhand to produce fine human beings having highest order of creativity.
To develop state of the art infrastructure such as roads, rail links, air bases, health care facilities, sports facilities, electricity supply system, tourism, and telecommunication network that facilitates better quality of life for the residents and others and entrepreneurship.
To develop and implement policies for safeguarding the interests of farmers and others engaged in production of essential goods and services and make available adequate facilities to them for making their profession rewarding and respectful.

To encourage and reward creativity and professionalism among the residents and non-resident of Uttarakhand in all walks of life; science, culture, arts, literature, environment, commerce, sports, public service and so on.

Introduction

The new state of Uttarakhand (India) was carved out from Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000. It is bestowed with diversified agro-climatic and socio-cultural milieu. The state with a geographical area of 53,483 sq. km has a spread of 357 km from east to west and 294 km from north to south. Out of 13 districts, 11 are hilly region which lack in infrastructure and other resources.

Uttarakhand represents a unique geographical area where altitude ranges from 200 m to a magnificent series of snow cloud peaks of more than 2400 m above mean sea level. Broadly, there are three sub divisions, Himadri or greater Himalaya, Himachal or lower Himalaya and Shivalik or sub Himalaya. Crops are grown up to 2000 m in this part. In lower Himalaya (> 600 to 2000 m) the crop cultivation is undertaken in river valleys and terraced slopes due to stony nature of land. The sub-Himalaya is of low height (600-1000 m). Besides mountain region, the state also has sizeable area in the plains. Agriculture in the plains is well developed and the crop productivity is high due to good soil fertility and availability of irrigation water throughout the year. The soil, climate and irrigation facilities vary greatly from place to place in this Himalayan state. The climate varies form sub-topical to temperate. The annual rainfall ranges from 1200-2500 mm and temperature varies from less than freezing point in higher hills to more than 40 o C in the plains.

The rate of literacy of this new state is fairly high and women play a crucial role in family and at the farm. Due to climatic, social and economical factors, adoption of new technology is very poor in the state. In most parts of the state, farmers still practice subsistence farming and traditional agriculture. The consumption of fertilizers and other chemicals is very low. Blasting in hills for construction activities, mining, and unplanned tree felling has created the problems of soil erosion and drying of natural springs and hence, scarcity of drinking water for many villages.

Like most other hill economies, the people of Uttarakhand practice integrated systems of farming, forestry, horticulture, livestock and off-farm activities. The recorded forest area constitutes 63.92% of the total reported area, though the actual cover based on remote sensing and satellite imagery information is only 44 percent. The net sown area for the region is a little over 13% of the total reported area, although there are wide variations in this percentage from district to district. About 33 % of the total area in Uttarakhand is either rocky/ snow covered/ glaciated or otherwise unproductive and degraded land. About 12% of agricultural land has got irrigation and about 90% land is used for growing cereals, fodder (berseem) and some vegetables. Some other information important data to describe Uttarakhand is presented below:

The total geographical area of the state is 53,483 sq. km with about 8.5 million population
The forest and agriculture are the major land based activities.
The state has 95 development blocks and 15,620 villages.
Contribution of women in agriculture is more than 80 percent.
The average size of holding in hill region is 0.8 ha which is scattered in small pieces.
Of the total area, only one-eighth is sown
The crops are grown on 8,12,000 ha, of which 5,04,000 ha contributes more than one crop a year.
The area under wastelands is 3,15,000 ha of which cultivable waste is 2,92,000 ha and land used under non-cultivation purpose is 1,66,000 ha.
Area under trees and bushes is 2,15,000 ha and under grassland it is 1,80,000 ha.
Present area under fallow is 12,000 ha, and 66,000 ha is as other fallow land.

The area under rice-wheat is 39.94 percent and under coarse cereals and millets is 28.19 percent. The area under maize, barley, food legumes and pulses is 3 to 4 percent.
The area under temperate and sub-tropical fruits is 1,89,000 ha each with total production of 48,400 tonnes per annum.
The state has ample scope for production of the seeds of temperate vegetables, and sericulture, apiculture, angora rabbit farming, mushrooms, flowers and medicinal plants.
The institutional infrastructure for agricultural development including credit availability is quite inadequate.
On the high hills, the wild animals are in plenty to harm the standing crops.
There are 20,08,563 cattle, 10,64,122 buffaloes, 1,23,877 crossbred cows, 3,37,174 sheep, 10,97,558 goats and 8,45,402 chicken in the State.
Uttarakhand has a relatively higher literacy rate i.e. above 75%, on an average, for males and about 43% for females. The literacy rate in rural areas is about 55%. (1991 census).
About 42% of the population can be classified as workers out of which 36.4% belongs to the category of main workers. Of the main workers, 58.1% are cultivators and 6.4% are agricultural labourers.
Participation of women in labour force is high and more than 35% women population is classified as workers.
About 50% of the land holdings are below 0.5 ha and other 21% between half and one ha. Thus about 71% of the farm holdings are marginal. Only about 33% of the cultivated area is under irrigation.
Tourism, mining, and sale of forest produce also constitute to the revenue sources.

The human and livestock population in Uttarakhand is large resulting in heavy burden on arable land. Overgrazing persists as also over cutting of the forests for fuel wood, fodder and timber. Loss to horticultural produces and field crops in very high due to wild animals and monkeys. As a result today’s average hill family gets only seven months’ subsistence (in terms of food) from its cultivated terraces. In recent years, profitability of the farm sector from traditionally grown crops has been on decline. Declining quality of land due to soil erosion and lack of irrigation water have also been problems for the farmers on the way of better productivity and quality. Frustration among rural youth is at very high level. Pass percentage in rural schools has been poor leading to greater number of school dropouts, increased alcoholism, smoking, early ageing specifically among rural women, migration of educated youth, and spurt in anti-social activities. Drudgery to women working on farms has not reduced. This has led to low productivity of farm sector and continued vicious circle operating for poverty, low input use, low farm productivity, less income, low education, frustration, dissatisfaction, migration and social problems.

The ecological system of Uttarakhand is fragile and highly sensitive to any developmental activity that is not designed in consideration to ecology and social fabric. Technology centered, market based, holistic systems approach needs to be developed and implemented in matrix mode in partnership of state agencies, industry, R&D institutions and people’s organizations for necessary turn-around and to achieve faster rate of development. It would be feasible if the farmer gets substantially higher returns from his land and labour through higher productivity and value addition.

Table 1. Physiographic zones of Uttarakhand, their attributes, major produces and livestock.

S. No.	Zone	Farming situation	Soil	Rainfall (mm/year)	Districts	Principal farm produces and Livestock
1.	Zone A upto 1000 m	Tarai irrigated	Alluvial	1400	U.S.Nagar, Haridwar	Rice, wheat, sugarcane, lentil, chickpea, rapeseed-mustard, mango, litchi, guava, peach and plums. Livestock: Buffalo and cattle.
		Bhabar irrigated	Alluvial mixed with boulders and shingles	1400	Nainintal, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal	Rice, wheat, sugarcane, rapeseed-mustard, potato, lentil, mango, guava, and litchi. Livestock: Buffalo and cattle
		Irrigated lower hills (600-1000 m)	Alluvial sandy soil	2000- 2400	Champawat, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal	Rice, wheat, onion, chillies, peas, potato, radish, cauliflower, pulses, oilseeds, soybean, mango, guava, plums, and peaches. Livestock: Buffalo and cattle
		Rain-fed lower hills (600-1000 m)	Residual sandy loam	2000- 2400	Champawat, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Bageshwar	Finger millet, maize, rice, wheat, pulses, mango, guava, plums, and peaches. Livestock: Buffalo, cattle and goat
2.	Zone B 1000-1500m	Mid hills south aspect (1000-1500 m	Sandy loam	1200- 1300	Champawat, Nainital, Almora, Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Bageshwar	Rice, finger millet, wheat, potato, tomato, peas, Cole crops, pulses, peach and plums. Livestock: Cattle, sheep and goat
3.	Zone C 1500-2400m	High hills (1500-2400 m)	Red to dark	1200- 2500	Pithoragarh, Almora, Chamoli, Bageshwar	Amaranth, finger millet, French-beans, Cole crops, potato, peas, peaches, plums, pear, apple, stone fruits. Livestock: Cattle, sheep and goat,
4.	Zone D >2400 m	Very high hills	Red to dark Black clay	1300	Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Uttarkashi	Amaranth, buckwheat, peas, Cole crops, apple and potato. Livestock: Sheep, goat.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

*    Agro-climatic diversity favoring wider production base.
*    Rich in forest area, flora and fauna – strong base for eco-tourism.
*    Hard working, peace loving and sincere citizens.
*    Strong network of educational institutions.
*    Strong R&D base (IIT, GBPUA&T, FRI, IVRI, VPKAS, CSWCRTI, Engg. Colleges).
*    High rate of literacy.
*    Multiplicity of welfare and development programmes.
*    Support from the Centre and international agencies

Weaknesses

*    Tough hilly terrains.
*    Fragmented and small non-viable land holdings
*    Heavy burden on women for farm related and other activities
*    Low productivity of farms, orchards and livestock
*    Continued erosion of soil leading to degradation in soil quality
*    Inadequate opportunities for employment
*    High order of migration specifically of educated youth
*    Poor state of roads and transport facilities
*    Many villages/ localities not having electricity, and drinking water nearby
*    Poor network of telecommunication facilities
*    Poor industrial infrastructure and over-exploitation of natural resource base
*    Promotion of mining activities leading to rapid degradation of the eco-system
*    Poor base for agro-processing and manufacturing
*    Poor state of credit for entrepreneurship.

Opportunities

*    State of excellence in education
*    Eco-tourism
*    Scope for productivity improvement through newer technologies
* Expanding market for medicinal and aromatic produces, fruits, vegetables, and floriculture specifically grown in hilly areas
*   Forward linking with national and international organizations/ industry and benefits to both

Threats

*   Degrading land and water quality leading to pollution, decreased land productivity due to non-supplementation of essential nutrients
*    High rate of population growth nullifying the gains

* Accelerated migration of educated youth to urban areas, other states and countries

* Further division of land leading to non-viable land units

* Environmental degradation due to mining activities, unplanned felling of trees, and improperly designed construction projects

Proposed Chapters in the Vision Document

            Executive Summary
1.         Introduction
2.         Mandate, Goals, and Objectives
3.         SWOT Analysis
4.         Geography and People
5.         Education (Primary, Secondary, Higher, and Vocational Education)
6.         Human Resource Development
7.         Health Services
8.         Civil Security
9.         Agriculture and Agro-based Industries
10.       Animal Husbandry
11.       Forestry and Wild Life
12.       Environment
13.       Roads and Rail network
14.       Telecommunication
15.       Research and Development
16.       Arts, Literature and Crafts
17.       Traditions and Culture
18.       Rural Development and rural housing
19.       Women Empowerment
20.       Manufacturing Sector
21.       Mining and minerals
22.       Tourism
23.       Information Technology
24.       Developmental Governance
25.       Expatriates from Uttarakhand
26.       Interlinkages with other States, Countries and National/ International Agencies
27.      Any other topic
28.      Recommended Role of Stakeholders: State Government, Central Government,       Political Parties, Universities, Students, Financial Institutions, NGOs, Industry, Expatriate from Uttarakhand, Intellectuals, Retired Officials and Citizens.

Figures (proposed to be included in the Vision document)

            I           Geographical map of Uttarakhand State
            II           Location of important Educational & R&D Institutions
            III          Badrinath temple and some of the important places of pilgrimage
            IV         Views of some of the important rituals of Uttarakhand
            V         Uttarakhand woman at work on farm
            VI         Some of the leading statesmen from Uttarakhand
            VII        View of a farm in Tarai
            VIII       View of terrace farms
            IX         Lifeline river Bhagirathi
            XII        Tehri multipurpose dam
            XIII       Molecular characterization lab at Almora
            XIV      Manufacturing technology lab at Pantnagar
            XV       Forest Research Institute, Dehradun
            XVI      Indian Military Academy, Dehradun
            XVII     School of Agric Business Management, Pantnagar
            XVIII    Vaccine Production Lab., Mukteswar

           XIX     IIT Roorkee
            XX       Green House facility, Bhowali
            XXI      Space Observatory, Nainital
            XXII     View of Holi Festival
            XXIII    Cholia Dance

Articles on the above topics are invited from scholars, social activists, government officials, artists, reformers, journalists, business people, NGOs and all others interested in better future of Uttarakhand. First, please send 1-2 pages of extended abstract/ summary. The abstract/ summary may please be sent to Dr. B.S. Bisht (bsbisht@gmail.com) or Dr. B.M. Dimri (uttarayani@rediffmail.com). The abstracts/ summary will be discussed by Uttarayani Executive and feed back will be communicated for preparing full article. The articles will be published in the Vision document by the name(s) of author(s). Also, we request for sending photographs (as above) and your suggestions

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