As CM, Trivendra Singh Rawat had a mixed bag

DEHRADUN: The tenure of Trivendra Singh Rawat government that came to an end almost nine days ahead of the completion of his four years in the office is marked with several highs and lows.
Keeping the CM office away from any major corruption charges, taking action against two senior IAS officers in the NH-74 scam and making Gairsain the summer capital of Uttarakhand were among a few notable achievements of Trivendra Singh Rawat during his tenure as the CM.
Since the beginning, Rawat has been calling his government a ‘zero-tolerance government’ against corruption. Rawat also won plaudits for introducing a law that made Uttarakhand women joint holder in the ancestral property. The move will not only help women become financially independent, but they will also be able to take loans from banks for self-employment or entrepreneurship.
Besides, Ghsyari Kalyan Yojana brought cheers to the faces of women in the hills as they have to go to the forest to collect fodder daily. The scheme is expected to benefit nearly 3.41 lakh women in the state.
The most notable achievement of Rawat was, however, organising the first investors’ summit in Uttarakhand during which investment proposals worth several hundred crores were signed to generate over 10,000 employment opportunities.
The tenure of the former CM, however, did not remain untouched by controversies. His style of functioning came under attack after he publically rebuked and suspended a schoolteacher, Uttara Bahuguna. Even his party colleagues were unhappy with the way Rawat had treated the schoolteacher, who was seeking a transfer.
Rawat also drew flak for the formation of the Devasthanam Board in a bid to take over the management of 51 key temples, including Char Dham shrines, in the state prompting priests to move the high court against the government’s decision. Besides, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had even filed an SLP in the Supreme Court against the Board.
Welcoming the ouster of Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday, the priests of Char Dham shrines burst crackers while terming his exit a “divine retribution”.
Besides, there had been complaints about the former CM being unapproachable for the public and his party MLAs and relied heavily on bureaucrats. On several occasions, his ministers and BJP MLAs had expressed their resentment over the “excessive dominance” of bureaucrats in the functioning of the state government.