Himalayan States Demand 'Green Bonus'; Demand Separate Ministry

Mussoorie, July 29, 2019:

Mussoorie was host to the 'Himalayan Conclave', a historic convention which saw senior leaders from 11 Himalayan States assemble on the same stage to discuss issues related to the Himalayan ecology and biodiversity. The conclave was held deliberate on the development challenges and potential of IHR. It concluded with the adoption of the Mussoorie Resolution, 2019.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief Ministers of five states with four representative of other four states in the Himalayan region and a host of other dignitaries were present.

The Himalayan states demanded a separate ministry to deal with problems endemic to them and a green bonus in recognition of their contribution to environment conservation.

Moreover, a case is being made to the 15th Finance Commission for focussing the funding to the states so that: Forest cover component of 7.5% as untied devolution maintained to

compensate the states for fiscal disability caused by the need to maintain forest cover; Income Distance component in horizontal devolution should take into consideration Infrastructural Distance to reflect the higher difficulty and higher cost of providing and accessing basic services etc; Grant in aid as performance grant to maintain carbonstocks in the IHR Making India proud of our Mountains region to meet India’s INDC commitment of increasing carbonstocks by 2.5-3 billion tons by the year 2030, Grant in aid as performance grant to reduce erosion; Grant in aid to encourage IHR states to Go Green by reducing chemical fertilizer and pesticide consumption; Disaster Management Grant to IHR states; Connectivity Grant to improve connectivity; and Infrastructural Planning and development.

The Mussoorie Resolution 2019 was adopted by the IHR states to workout

strategies for Sustainable Development of Mountain areas in a collaborative manner.

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