Uttarakhand to fund 20% equine insurance premium for Char Dham Yatra owners
The Uttarakhand Cabinet has approved a set of proposals, including a decision to pay 20 per cent of the insurance premium for horses, mules and
The Uttarakhand Cabinet has approved a set of proposals, including a decision to pay 20 per cent of the insurance premium for horses, mules and donkeys used by owners during the Char Dham Yatra. It also cleared a proposal to declare Uttarakhand a fully literate state. The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. The cabinet also approved steps linked to tourism, road works and the long-pending Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project, and expressed grief at the start of the meeting over the passing of former chief minister Major General Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and renowned shooter Jaspal Rana. Read Full Story Director General of Information B D Tiwari said the state government will provide relief to equine owners operating on the Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage routes by paying 20 per cent of the insurance premium, while the remaining 80 per cent will be borne by the owners.
The scheme will cover an estimated 15,000 registered horses and mules for the 2026 pilgrimage season. Based on an estimated value of Rs 70,000 per animal and an insurance rate of five per cent, the total premium has been calculated at Rs 525 lakh, of which the state government will bear Rs 105 lakh. The cabinet approved the proposal to declare Uttarakhand a fully literate state on the basis of literacy standards aligned with the Education Policy 2020. Under the policy, the state's literacy rate has crossed 98 per cent. To boost tourism, the cabinet approved the selection of an agency through a single-source process to organise the proposed International Himalayan Car Rally.
The aim is to attract more than 120 entries, including 25 international participants, 25 from the Asia Cross Country Rally, 20 from the Classic Car Rally and 50 from the Indian Rally Championship. With petroleum prices rising sharply in India due to the West Asia crisis, the cabinet also approved price adjustments for bitumen works. The change will apply to contracts signed before April 1 this year that are still valid and have pending bitumen work, for the period from May 1 to June 30. The cabinet also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for helping build consensus among stakeholder states on the Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project.
In sum, the cabinet's decisions covered relief for Char Dham equine owners, a literacy milestone, tourism promotion, changes to bitumen work rates and progress on the Kishau project, while the meeting opened with tributes to Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Jaspal Rana. Ends
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