Centre for separate Himalayan policy

Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehradun April 4, 2011, 0:34 IST

With food security remaining a big concern in the 1.2 billion nation, the Centre is planning to devise a separate policy for the Himalayan region comprising states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to boost their overall growth.

“Discussions have already started for a separate policy for the Himalayan region comprising sectors like agriculture, fishery, horticulture, animal husbandry and others. We are involving leading non-governmental organisations (NGOs), central institutions and experts in this endeavour,” said Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Director General Dr S Ayappan, on the sidelines of a workshop on future strategy on the Himalayan region.


The greater emphasis will be given on the hill mechanism for a cost-effective approach, experts said.

The main concern of the new policy will be to fulfill the requirements of the hills where land holdings, are small, soil erosion is rampant, biodiversity is rich and climate change is a seen as big factor, experts said.

Other factors like haphazard growth, water shortage, rapid migration, unemployment will also be taken into account into the future policy, said Anil P Joshi, whose Dehradun-based NGO, HESCO, has taken the initiative to work for the separate Himalayan policy. “This workshop is the first step towards the future policy initiatives. Our big goal will be to devise the agriculture policy at the first stage at the centre level for the entire Himalayan region,” said Joshi.

Chipko movement leader Sunderlal Bahuguna, a recipient of Padma Vibhushan, also supported the idea of the separate policy saying big dams like Tehri were creating destruction of the region’s rich biodiversity.

With Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee focusing on the nutrient millets, Ayappan said a budgetary provision of Rs 300 crore has been made for boosting the growth of agri-millets like mandua (finger millet) which have tremendous potential in states like Uttarakhand.

source:Business Standard