Uttarakhand: Ten Himalayan States Demand Green Bonus, Separate Ministry At Centre In Mussoorie Conlave

The one-day conclave of the Himalayan states was organised on Sunday (28 July) in Mussoorie of Uttarakhand. Apart from the representatives of the ten Himalayan states, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with officials of NITI Aayog and Finance Commission also attended the conclave.

In the conclave, the representatives of the 10 states unanimously decided that a separate ministry should be constituted at the Centre to look after the issues related to the Himalayan region, reports Times of India.

The states also demanded that a ‘green bonus’ should be granted to them for the ecological services they are providing to the country.

"All the participating states want that 'green bonus' should be granted to Himalayan states for the ecological services being provided by them," Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, as reported by India Today.

The states also called for the need to develop new tourist destinations in a bid to ease load on the existing ones as they are hitting a saturation point. Besides, the Himalayan states also expressed concern over the migration from the areas close to the border.

Further, it was decided that such a conclave should be organised every year to discuss common issues related to the Himalayan states.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was the chief guest of the conclave. Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur, Meghalaya CM KC Sangama, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, Finance Commission chairperson NK Singh and NITI Aayog vice-chairperson Rajiv Kumar were the prominent attendees at the conclave.

Besides, representatives of other states like Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir also participated in the event.