Namaskar,
This issue is emotional as well as developmental. Emotional because all along our struggle for statehood, we had believed that the capital would be Gairsain (Chandranagar). Suddenly, we find that Dehradun is going to be our capital for all times to come if the politicians and bureaucrats have their way. Emotional because all along we believed that the capital would be in Pahad and not plains or Doon valley. Emotional because we believed that the State belonged to the Pahadis, created for Pahadis. With the capital in the plains, we seem to be cheated.
There is the developmental aspect. If the capital is situated in the hills (Gairsain), a whole range of activities would follow suit. Roads would have to be carved/widened, whole structure of capital would mean spending a huge amount in the hills, thus beneficial to the Pahadis. Pahadis would get work, jobs would be created, UP-Cadre wallas would leave, crores of rupees would be spent in the Pahad, facilities in the hills nearby would be upgraded. Now, this would not materialise. Why?
I have a sneaking feeling that the politicians would never agree to Gairsain. After chatting informally with all hues of politicians (smaller fries as well as ministers) during the last 5-6 years, I feel they are afraid of shifting/establishing the capital in the hills because then they would be at the mercy of the local populace in the hills with no getaways.
So far as bureaucrats are concerned, they would never agree nor would they allow the politicians to establish the capital in the hills, that too at a remote place like Gairsain. As we are aware, the bureaucracy in UK is dominated by UP-cadre/plainswallas. They have a vested interest in keeping the capital at Doon. They are not interested in serving the Pahadis but in exploiting it. Please go through the list of officers posted in the hills. You will find that most of the plainswallas/UP-Cadrewallas are posted in larger cities like Doon, Nainital, Mussorie, while most of the lower-rung officers belong to Pahad and posted in the hills. It is surprising that headquarters of most of the posts located in the remote corners have been shifted to the capital and nobody has pointed it out, not even our reportedly vigilant media.
Now the third angle. If I remember correctly, most of the agitations have been held at Gairsain instead of Dehradoon, therefore the media avoided it. Without the media attention/hype, it petered out. If the agitations are held at Doon or Delhi, the media would lap it up and a pressure would be built on the politician-bureaucracy nexus.
Please do air your views on this.
Namaskar
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