Uttarakhand government is devoted whole-heartedly towards the betterment of this Indian state formed as late as in 2000. The Uttarakhand government comprises an extremely efficient legislature, backed by an equally committed judiciary and executive. Presently, the state legislative functions under the governorship of Aziz Qureshi.
All the functions of Uttarakhand government are based primarily in Dehradun of Garhwal division, the capital city of the state of Uttarakhand.
The Speaker supervises the sessions of the state legislative assembly. Harish Rawat is the present Chief Minister of the state. The Chief Minister spearheads the operations of the council of ministers, which is a body of cabinet ministers and ministers of state and is the core of the government in Uttarakhand. They are handpicked for their enviable record of past activities and their whole-hearted service towards the state. The various ministries of the government of Uttarakhand are devoted to the all round development of the state.
The executive body of Uttarakhand's government is formed of members elected from the 70 assembly constituencies of the state. These assembly constituencies are spread over the thirteen districts of the state. The divisional commissioners of the two divisions of Dehradun are also secretaries of the state. They guide their group of state secretaries and special secretaries and ensure that Uttarakhand government is run smoothly. Nainital is the center of the Uttarakhand's judiciary.
Legislature
Legislature in Uttarakhand is controlled by the State Legislative Assembly of Uttarakhand. The legislature of Uttarakhand is unicameral in nature which means that it is composed of only one legislative body. The state's legislature is one of the youngest in the country, the state being formed as late as in 2000. It is devoted towards maintenance of the existing legislative structure and implementation of new laws and their amendment as and when required. It is the very cornerstone of democracy in the state.
Special Secretaries
Special secretaries of Uttarakhand play a very important role in the overall functioning of the state's executive. The complete governance of a state is incomplete without the portfolios of the special secretaries. At the same time, the entire financial standing of the state is often enhanced, if not based on the revenues of some of the portfolios that are included in the state's special secretariat wings.
The range of portfolios that are held by Uttarakhand's special secretaries come from a wide range of governance concerns. They can ensure the revenue of the state, like entertainment tax and finance. They can be of extreme economic interest like cane cultivation and rural engineering. They can also be of a purely humanitarian nature like looking after the welfare of the freedom fighters. As such, the expertise of some of the most efficient administrators and civil servants are needed for a smooth functioning of the government's departments that the special secretaries are responsible for. Special secretaries in Uttarakhand work in close association with the chief secretary and the concerned ministries. Some portfolios operate as subsidiaries to other portfolios looked after by the concerned secretaries of the state.
Chief Engineer
Chief Engineer Uttarakhand is a post that talks of the state's willingness to optimize the use of Hydroelectricity resources of the state. The chief engineer of Uttarakhand works in unison with the department of irrigation particularly devoted to the making and maintenance of the Tehri Dam. The chief engineer has his office in Dehradun. The post of the chief engineer Uttarakhand goes back a long way. It was created as early as in 1960, when the state was a part of Uttar Pradesh. This post is a continuation of the post of the chief engineer Yamuna Valley Projects.
Divisional Commissioners
Divisional Commissioners of Uttarakhand are responsible for the governance of the two divisions of the state. They look after the proper maintenance of all the important civic amenities of the inhabitants of the state, by ensuring a proper running of the departments in each division. The amenities include food, transport, employment, subsidies and executions of the decisions reached by the legislature of Uttarakhand.
Both of Uttarakhand's divisional commissioners serve the very important task of coordinating the works of the various districts in the state. The work is mainly that of coordination, and monitoring the proper implementation of all the tenets that the state legislature as ascertained.
Judiciary
The judiciary of Uttarakhand was constituted in the year 2000, with its seat at Nainital. From that day onwards, the judiciary of Uttarakhand that largely depends on the High Court of Uttarakhand has been operating in the old building situated at Mallital (Nainital).
Moreover, it can be said that the Judiciary of Uttarakhand or any other state of India is equivalent to its High Court. In fact, the entire judiciary or the jurisdiction of the State, and in this instance Uttarakhand, lies with the High Court. Therefore, it becomes the duty of the High Court to look after the sound existence of that state.
High Court
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), also known as the Uttarakhand Revolution Party, is the most important of all state based political parties in Uttarakhand. The party was established in 1979 with the demand to form a separate state in the Himalayas. Their endeavor finally met with success when the separate state of Uttarakhand was created n 2000. Although it has not been able to live up to its promise as the single largest voice for the inhabitants of the mountain regions of Uttarakhand, it still continues to fight for the several demands and the issues raised by the inhabitants of the state. BD Raturi, the founding member of the party continues as the president of the party. UKD played a very important role in the formation of the State Assembly when it joined hands with BJP, who were one seat short in getting an absolute majority in the Vidhan Sabha. Although it was thought to be incongruous to the center-left ideological position of the party that it maintained in its early state of inception, yet it attested to the political importance of the party in the political affairs of the state.
National Level Political Parties
National level political parties in Uttarakhand have an extremely strong presence in the political scene of the state. These parties, along with the state level parties, are largely responsible in deciding the political fate of this new state. Several elections which were held in the state have shown the extent of influence that the national level political parties exert on the politics of the state. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the strongest presence of all national level parties at Uttarakhand. The party has reached to a resounding success in the assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections. The state office of BJP is at Balbir Road in Dehradun.
Constituencies
Constituencies of Uttarakhand are spread over the 13 districts of the state in its two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon. There are 5 parliamentary constituencies and 70 assembly constituencies in the state. Both the parliamentary and the assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand see a major participation from the major national parties. It also becomes the seat for vigorous competition for some of the state level and exclusively regional parties as well.
Both the lists of parliamentary and assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand are enlisted below.
There are five parliamentary constituencies at Uttarakhand. Haridwar is the only SC seat and all the others are of the general category. They are as follows:
- Garhwal
- Tehri Garhwal
- Nainital
- Almora
- Haridwar (SC)
There are 70 assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand. Fourteen of the constituencies belong to SC and Khatima is the only ST constituency. A list of the assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand are enlisted below along with an indication of the SC and the ST categeories whenever applicable:
| 1 | Purola (SC) | 25 | Bahadrabad | 48 | Almora |
| 2 | Gangotri | 26 | Yamakeshwar | 49 | Ranikhet |
| 3 | Yamunotri | 27 | Hardwar | 50 | Someshwar (SC) |
| 4 | Tehri | 28 | Laldhang | 51 | Mukteshwar (SC) |
| 5 | Deoprayag | 29 | Kotdwar | 52 | Dhari |
| 6 | Pratapnagar | 30 | Dhumakot | 53 | Haldwani |
| 7 | Ghansali | 31 | Bironkhal | 54 | Jageshwar |
| 8 | Narendranagar | 32 | Lansdowne | 55 | Nainital |
| 9 | Chakrata (SC) | 33 | Pauri | 56 | Ramnagar |
| 10 | Dhanolti (SC) | 34 | Srinagar (SC) | 57 | Jaspur |
| 11 | Vikasnagar | 35 | Rudraprayag | 58 | Bajpur |
| 12 | Sahaspur (SC) | 36 | Thalisain | 59 | Kashipur |
| 13 | Laxman Chowk | 37 | Nandprayag | 60 | Sitarganj (SC) |
| 14 | Dehradun | 38 | Kedarnath | 61 | Khatima (ST) |
| 15 | Rajpur | 39 | Badrinath | 62 | Pantnagar - Gadarpur |
| 16 | Rishikesh | 40 | Pindar (SC) | 63 | Rudrapur - Kichha |
| 17 | Doiwala | 41 | Karanprayag | 64 | Champawat |
| 18 | Musoorie | 42 | Kanda | 65 | Lohaghat |
| 19 | Roorkee | 43 | Kapkot | 66 | Gangolihat (SC) |
| 20 | Iqbalpur | 44 | Bhikiasain | 67 | Pithorgarh |
| 21 | Manglor | 45 | Salt | 68 | Didihat |
| 22 | Bhagwanpur (SC) | 46 | Dwarahat | 69 | Dharchula (SC) |
| 23 | Landhaura (SC) | 47 | Bageshwar (SC) | 70 | Kanalichhina |
| 24 | Laksar |
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of tourism of Uttarakhand is responsible for maintaining and generating revenue from tourism in the state.
It is also the responsibility of tourism ministry of Uttarakhand to formulate plans for increasing revenue from tourism industry. The ministry has to decide the rules and regulations for the efficient working of the tourism industry. Tourism ministry of Uttarakhand has created two corporations for Garhwal and Kumaon region named as Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited so as to offer quality service to the tourists. Moreover, these two regions consist of most of the star tourist attractions. Through these corporations, the ministry of tourism of Uttarakhand is trying to woo more tourists in these regions by offering various tourist packages. These tourist packages range from pilgrimage, adventure sports to wildlife tours, etc. This is how it is adding up revenue to the state's economy.
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Last Updated on : October 18, 2014
