Speaker for new Vidhan Sabha building

Uttarakhand assembly speaker Harbans Kapoor has asked the state government to make available land for the construction of new Vidhan Sabha premises, demand for which has been pending for quite some time. "There cannot be two opinions that the existing Vidhan Sabha building is too small to carry out the functions of legislature and it needs to be shifted elsewhere in a more specious building," Kapoor said in an interview to PTI. He said an amount of Rs 88 crore had already been sanctioned by the 13th Finance commission for the purpose but it was lying unused due to non-availability of the land. Kapoor said he had several times asked the Uttarakhand government to provide land for the Assembly building but the matter was still pending.

"When (B.C.) Khanduriji was the chief minister, I took up the matter with him. Now I have asked his successor Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to provide the land for the new Vidhan Sabha," the speaker said. He, however, hoped that the present government would soon make the land available for the purpose. When asked whether the state government is hesitating in providing land for construction of the new Vidhan Sabha as Dehradun is still an interim capital, Kapoor said structures required for the functioning of government have to be raised. He advised the state government to decide the issue of permanent capital immediately as it is not in the interests of the state to further delay the matter.

The Virendra Dixit Commission has already submitted its report suggesting Dehradun, Ramnagar and Rishikesh as the places suitable for permanent capital of the hill state and the government should pick any of them, he said.