Hail Mother Ganga. (Ganga Maiya ki jai) 

Hail Mother Ganga. 

Hail Mother Ganga. 

Hail Mother India. (Bharat Mata ki Jai) 

Hail Mother India. 

Hail Mother India. 

Hail Mother India!

My dear brothers and sisters of Uttarakhand, my greetings to all of you, Namaskar!

The energetic Chief Minister here, my younger brother Pushkar Singh Dhami Ji, Union Minister Shri Ajay Tamta Ji, State Minister Satpal Maharaj Ji, my colleague in Parliament and State President of Bharatiya Janata Party Mahendra Bhatt Ji, my colleague in Parliament Mala Rajya Lakshmi Ji, MLA Suresh Chauhan Ji, all the dignitaries, brothers and sisters.

First of all, I express my sorrow over the accident that happened a few days ago in Mana village. I express my condolences to the families of the persons who lost their lives in the accident. The solidarity shown by the people of the country in this hour of crisis has given great courage to the affected families.

Friends, 

This land of Uttarakhand, our Devbhoomi, is enriched with spiritual energy. Blessed with the four Dhams and infinite pilgrimages, this winter seat of the life-giving mother Ganga, I am blessed to be here once again today, to meet all of you and your families. It is only because of the grace of mother Ganga that I have had the privilege of serving Uttarakhand for decades. I believe it is because of her blessings that I reached Kashi, and now I am serving Kashi as an MP. And that is why I had said in Kashi - Maa Ganga has called me. And a few months ago, I also felt as if Maa Ganga has adopted me now. This is the affection of Maa Ganga. It is her affection towards this child of hers that today I have come to her maternal home Mukhwa village. Here I have also got the good fortune of darshan and worship in Mukhimath-Mukhwa.

Friends, 

Today, when I have come to this land of Harsil, I am also remembering the affection of my Didi-Bhulion. They keep sending me Harsil Rajma and other local products. I am grateful to you for this affection and gift.

Friends, 

A few years ago, when I went to Baba Kedarnath for darshan, to Baba's feet, after darshan and prayers to Baba, suddenly some feelings came out of my mouth, and I said- this decade will be the decade of Uttarakhand. Those words were mine, those feelings were mine, but the power to give strength behind them was given by Baba Kedarnath himself. I am seeing that with the blessings of Baba Kedar, those words, those feelings are slowly turning into truth, into reality. This decade is becoming the decade of Uttarakhand. New paths are opening up for the progress of Uttarakhand. The aspirations with which Uttarakhand was born, the resolutions we had taken for the development of Uttarakhand, moving towards new successes and new goals every day, those resolutions are being fulfilled today. In this direction, winter tourism is another very important step. Through this, a great help will be provided in realizing the economic potential of Uttarakhand. I congratulate Dhami ji and the Uttarakhand government for this innovative effort, and wish for the progress of Uttarakhand.

Friends, 

It is very important for Uttarakhand to make its Tourism sector diversified, make it year-round, 365 days. I want tourism to be in Uttarakhand irrespective of the season, there should be no off-season. Now is the time for on and not off. Currently, tourism in the mountains is seasonal. As you all know, a large number of tourists come in the months of March, April, May and June, but after that their number reduces drastically. In winters, most of the hotels, resorts and homestays remain vacant. This imbalance leads to economic slowdown in Uttarakhand for a large part of the year, it also poses a challenge for the environment.

Friends, 

The truth is that if people from India and abroad come here in the winter season, they will get a true introduction to the aura of Devbhoomi. The thrill of activities like trekking, skiing etc. in winter tourism will really thrill the people here. Winter season is also very special for religious pilgrimage in Uttarakhand. Special rituals are also performed at many pilgrimage sites during this time. Just look at Mukhwa village, the religious rituals that are performed here are a part of our ancient and wonderful tradition. Therefore, the Uttarakhand government's vision of year-round tourism, the vision of 365-day tourism will give people an opportunity to connect with divine experiences. This will develop employment opportunities available throughout the year, this will be of great benefit to the local people of Uttarakhand, the youth here.

Friends, 

Our double engine government is working together to make Uttarakhand a developed state. Chardham-All Weather Road, modern expressway, expansion of railway, aircraft and helicopter services in the state, Uttarakhand has developed rapidly in the last 10 years. Just yesterday, the central government has taken very big decisions for Uttarakhand. Yesterday the Union Cabinet approved the Kedarnath Ropeway Project and the Hemkund Ropeway Project. After the construction of Kedarnath ropeway, the journey which takes 8 to 9 hours will now be completed in about 30 minutes. This will make the Kedarnath journey easier for the elderly, children and women. Thousands of crores of rupees will be spent on these ropeway projects. I congratulate the entire country including Uttarakhand for these projects.

Friends, 

Today, focus is also being laid on Eco log huts, Convention centers, helipad infrastructure in the mountains. Tourism infrastructure is being developed afresh in Timmer-Sain Mahadev, Mana village, Jadung village of Uttarakhand, and the countrymen may know, may not, that in 1962, when China attacked India, our Jadung village was evacuated, these two villages of ours were evacuated. 60-70 years have passed, people have forgotten, we cannot forget, we have started a campaign to resettle those two villages, and we are moving forward in the direction of making it a very big tourist destination. And the result of this is that the number of tourists in Uttarakhand has increased rapidly in this decade. Before 2014, an average of 18 lakh pilgrims used to come every year on Chardham Yatra. Now about 50 lakh pilgrims have started coming every year. A provision has been made in this year's budget to develop 50 tourist destinations. Hotels at these destinations will be given infrastructure status. This will increase facilities for tourists and will also boost local employment.

Friends, 

It is our endeavour to provide special benefits of tourism to the border areas of Uttarakhand. Earlier, border villages were called the last villages. We have changed this perspective, we said these are not our last villages, these are our first villages. We started the Vibrant Village Programme for their development. 10 villages of this region have also been included in this scheme, and I was told that some friends from that village are also present here in front of us today. The work of resettling Nelang and Jadung villages, about which I described what had happened in 1962, has been started. Today, I have just flagged off a bike rally from here to Jadung. We have announced to provide the benefit of Mudra Yojana to those who build homestays. The Uttarakhand government is also engaged in promoting homestays in the state. In villages which remained deprived of infrastructure for so many decades, tourism is increasing due to the opening of new homestays, and the income of the people is increasing.

Friends, 

Today, I am especially appealing and requesting the young generation of the country from Devbhoomi, from every corner of the country, east-west-north-south and even the center, especially the young generation, and from this holy land, the home of Maa Ganga.

Friends,

In winters, when there is fog in a large part of the country and the Sun is not visible, the sunshine is being enjoyed on the mountains. This can become a special event. And what will we call it in Garhwali? 'Gham Tapo Paryatan', right? 'Gham Tapo Paryatan'. For this, people from every corner of the country must visit Uttarakhand. Especially our friends from the corporate world should become a part of winter tourism. If meetings, conferences, exhibitions are to be held, then there cannot be a more promising place than winter season and Devbhoomi. I would also request the big personalities of the corporate world to come to Uttarakhand for their big seminars, explore the MICE sector. People can also recharge and re-energize by coming here through yoga and Ayurveda. I would also request all those young friends in the universities, private schools and colleges of the country to choose Uttarakhand for winter trips of students.

Friends,

We have an economy of thousands of crores, wedding economy, thousands of crores of rupees are spent on weddings, it is a very big economy. You will remember, I had urged the people of the country - Wed in India, get married in India, nowadays people go to other countries of the world, what is lacking here? Spend money here, and what can be better than Uttarakhand. I would like that the countrymen also give priority to Uttarakhand for destination weddings in winters. Similarly, I have high expectations from the Indian film industry. Uttarakhand has received the award of Most Film Friendly State. Modern facilities are rapidly developing here. Therefore, Uttarakhand can become the favourite destination of the entire India for film shootings during winters.

Friends,

Winter tourism is quite popular in many countries of the world. To promote winter tourism in Uttarakhand, and for this we can learn a lot from such countries.  I would like that all the stakeholders, hotels and resorts associated with the tourism sector of Uttarakhand must study those countries. I am here right now, I saw a small exhibition, I found it very impressive, the imagination that has been done, the locations that have been decided, the modern creations that are being made, each picture of each location was so impressive that I felt like coming here once again and spending those days of my 50 years old life among you, and look for an opportunity to visit each destination, they are making it so good. I would like to ask the Uttarakhand government to actively work on the actionable points that emerge from foreign studies. We have to promote local traditions, music, dance and cuisine. There are many hot springs here, it is not just in Badrinath, there are many more, those areas can also be developed as wellness spas. Winter yoga retreats can be organized in calm and snowy areas. I would request all the great sages, heads of monasteries and temples, and all yoga teachers to organize a yoga camp for their disciples in Uttarakhand once a year during winters. The attraction of a special wildlife safari for the winter season can become the special identity of Uttarakhand. That means we will have to move forward with a 360-degree approach and work at every level.

Friends,

Apart from the development of facilities, it is equally important to provide information to the people. For this, I would like to tell the country's young content creators, nowadays there are a large number of influencers, content creators in social media, they can serve my Uttarakhand, my Devbhoomi, even while sitting at home, they can also earn virtue. You can play a very big role in accelerating the tourism sector of the country, in providing information to the people, the role that has been played needs to be expanded further. You should also be a part of this campaign of winter tourism in Uttarakhand, and I would like the Uttarakhand government to organize a big competition, these content creators, influencers, should make a 5-minute film to promote winter tourism, their competition should be held and the one who makes the best film should be given the best prize, people from all over the country should be asked to come forward, a lot of publicity will start. And I am sure that when such competitions are held, new places will be explored, new films will be made, people will be told about it.

Friends,

I am confident that in the coming years we will witness rapid development in this sector. Once again, for the 365-day, year-round tourism campaign, I give my best wishes and congratulate all the brothers and sisters of Uttarakhand and felicitate the state government. All of you say with me-

Hail Mother Ganga.

Hail Mother Ganga. 

Hail Mother Ganga. 

Thank you very much.

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

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MJPS/VJ/SS