President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday lauded the Constitution Amendment Bill relating to the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh.
“The unanimous vote on the Bill has conveyed a strong message of friendship to Bangladesh and established to the world that India stands united on matters of national interest,” Mr. Mukherjee said at a special session of the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha.
Mr. Mukherjee was the first President to address the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha in the 14 years since Uttarakhand got statehood.
Mr. Mukherjee spoke of the Bill while appreciating the current Lok Sabha. He said the Lok Sabha sat for 90 days and passed 55 Government Bills. “…a noteworthy feature of this Lok Sabha is that there are 318 first-timers and the time spent on quality debate,” Mr. Mukherjee said.
He appreciated the efforts at rebuilding the State after the 2013 deluge. “Uttarakhand has successfully brought down the percentage of people living below the poverty line from 32.7 per cent in 2004-05 to 11.3 per cent in 2012. Ninety-nine per cent of the villages have been electrified in the State,” he said. Mr. Mukherjee also lauded the State for the increase in forest cover by more than 1,100 sq.km. in the past 10 years.
However, he noted that though the State had an annual growth rate of about 10 per cent, the growth was non-uniform as the hill areas were lagging behind.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat expressed the need for Central help in rehabilitation and reconstruction works in areas hit by the 2013 disaster.
