Uttarakhand is reshaping its development strategy around sustainable growth, ecological balance, spiritual traditions and livelihood-led planning. The emphasis is on strengthening agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry to curb migration, promoting high-value tourism and community benefits, reimagining forest sector, aligning skilling with industry needs, and leveraging AI, GIS, and data-driven tools for better governance and disaster preparedness.

Shri Raj Shekhar Joshi, Vice Chairman, SETU (State Institute for Empowering & Transforming Uttarakhand) Aayog as replacement of State Planning Commission, shares more on this in an exclusive interview with Krishna Mishra of Elets News Network (ENN). Born in a scholarly family of Uttarakhand, he played substantial innings in corporate sector post IIT graduation with vast national and global exposure with experience in public policy and deep understanding of Uttarakhand state, its society and deep ground connect with its villages and spiritual traditions. Edited excerpts:

Setu Aayog has emerged as one of the key think tanks shaping Uttarakhand’s development discourse. What is your policy vision and the priority focus areas for the next five years?

The central theme of Uttarakhand’s development must be economic and social growth with sustainability and spirituality at its core. This is non-negotiable given the state’s unique ecological character, fragile Himalayan terrain, and the increasing challenges posed by climate change and global warming. Development here cannot follow a conventional template; it must be deeply rooted in environmental consciousness. Enhanced economic and social development is only true solution to our people’s aspirations and social challenges.

Beyond this, there are two other equally important pillars. The first is social sector development, encompassing health, education, and welfare delivery, particularly in remote and hilly regions. The second is the strengthening of Uttarakhand’s spiritual ecosystem, which is intrinsic to the state’s identity as Devbhumi. Spiritual tourism, cultural preservation, and community participation must evolve in a structured and sustainable manner.

These priorities align closely with the vision of Sashakt Uttarakhand articulated by Hon Chief Minister and the direction laid by Hon PM who has a deep rooted connection with Uttarakhand and has been a supporting pillar. If we go a level deeper, agriculture and allied activities like horticulture, animal husbandry among others emerge as a foundational sector. Roughly 40/45 percent of the state’s population depends on agriculture and allied, yet it contributes only about 9 percent to the Gross State Domestic Product, far below the national average. Enhancing productivity, farmer remuneration, and resilience in agriculture has to be therefore central to our development strategy.

Tourism is another major focus, but needing a nuanced approach. Uttarakhand has a resident population of roughly 14-15 million, but the floating population is four to five times that number. Managing this pressure on infrastructure and ecology while simultaneously creating value for state and its residents is a major challenge and opportunity. The solution lies in balancing volume driven tourism with enhancing their consumption of local goods and services with high-value, experience-driven, and sustainable tourism.

We must also recognise that Uttarakhand is practically two symbiotic ecosystems within one state. The hilly regions account for about 86 percent of the landmass but contribute roughly one-third of the GDP, while the plains—just 14 percent of the territory—host 60/65 % plus majority of the population and economic activity. Development strategies therefore need to be differentiated. The sometimes heard voices of hills vs plains debate must be supplanted with Hills and Plains Strategy with a equitable focus. The plains have a large scale staples agriculture base and strong legacy manufacturing ecosystem needing a new drive particularly in automobiles, capital goods and pharmaceuticals, which must be actively strengthened through policies on electric vehicles, electronics manufacturing and renewables.

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Health, education, urban management, disaster management, and connectivity, especially in the hills, remain critical cross- cutting priorities.

Setu is embarking on major studies to reimagine health sector, forest economy having almost completed study with NDDB to make quantum jump in dairy sector as Mission Dugdhganga and comprehensive waste management strategy focusing on cleanliness, jobs creation and wealth generation for state and its residents apart from drawing a model municipal act. Initiatives have begun or set to take off in pre-marital communication with NCW, reducing neo natal mortality, child nutritional profile, financial inclusion in SHG sector with Tata Trusts with other active dialogues in areas of mental health, menstrual health among others. Importantly, disaster management must move beyond relief and rehabilitation to anticipatory, tech enabled and foresight- driven planning. There are models to turn disaster management from crisis management approach to large scale economic opportunity and strengthening urban local bodies to improve urban living, economic activity and jobs creation.

Uttarakhand faces a paradox, economic development on one hand and ecological fragility on the other. How is the state balancing these competing imperatives?

This is indeed one of the most complex challenges we face. The Himalayan region is geologically young and inherently fragile, which demands a development model that is far more sensitive to nature. The first question we must ask is not how fast we should build infrastructure, but how much and how.

Construction regulations, building technologies, and land- use planning are critical, especially in hilly areas. Recent disasters have shown us the consequences of ignoring natural systems—particularly construction on floodplains. When rivers reclaim their natural courses, human settlements suffer irreparable damage.

We therefore need stringent regulation on building heights, construction materials, and zoning. Equally important is forest conservation. Nearly 70 percent of Uttarakhand’s geographical area is under forest cover. Preserving these forests while creating sustainable livelihood opportunities around them requires a new forest economy model.

The whole combination of glacial lakes formation, abandoned agriculture land, disaster and recent enhancement of Uttarakhand’s earthquake vulnerability to highest Zone 6 needs to be turned from potential crisis of high proportions to opportunity. Geologists state imminence of a major earthquake in himalayan region after previous ones in 1500s and 1800s and therefore our vision must include need to factor this almost inevitable possibility.

We have initiated studies to explore how forest-based livelihoods can be enhanced without compromising ecological integrity—through community participation, value addition, and sustainable resource management. Ultimately, economic development must proceed with nature, not against it.

How can emerging technologies such as AI, GIS mapping, and decision-support systems improve governance outcomes, particularly in Uttarakhand’s remote and hilly regions?

Technology—especially artificial intelligence and geospatial tools—can be transformative for a state like Uttarakhand. One major application is water security. Thousands of natural springs that once sustained villages have dried up over time. Mapping underground water streams using AI- driven models and high-frequency wave techniques allows us to identify and rejuvenate these sources more effectively. Dedicated institutional mechanisms already in place to take this forward needs to be strengthened and made inclusive.

Forest fire management is another critical area. Satellite-based early warning systems, powered by AI, can help detect fires at a very early stage, enabling rapid response and reducing damage. AI and GIS are also invaluable in mapping fallow agricultural land. Since the state’s formation in 2000, nearly two lakh hectares of agricultural land have become uncultivated due to migration, climate stress, and natural calamities. Accurate land-use mapping allows us to design targeted afforestation, horticulture, and livelihood programmes. Health is another sector where technology is key to improving design and delivery of delivery services.

In short, technology enables us to move from reactive governance to predictive and preventive governance, which is essential in a geographically complex state.

How is Setu Aayog contributing to employment generation and livelihood enhancement, particularly for youth and returning migrants?

Skill development is at the heart of our employment strategy. We are working closely with state departments to modernise Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) through the Dual System of Training, where students split time between classroom learning and hands-on experience on industrial shop floors.

This model has been strengthened through partnerships with major industry players, including the Mahindra and Tata groups, which have a strong presence in the state. We are also introducing specialised courses aligned with emerging demand, such as electric vehicle technologies.In addition, cybersecurity and AI courses have been launched in ITIs in collaboration with NASSCOM and Cisco, responding to the growing need for digital skills. Around 20,000 students have already registered for such skill programmes.

We are also piloting innovative industry-run, government- supported skill centres within state sector, including one operational centre in Nainital in association with Taj Group—a tier-three city—with strong placement assurance which have already started showing results with confirmed placements in prestigious organizations. Beyond urban areas, we are setting up rural service centres operated by Self-Help Groups or FPOs, combining skilling with entrepreneurship.

Employment creation must go hand in hand with strengthening the local economic ecosystem. Skills alone are not enough unless markets, enterprises, and value chains are simultaneously developed.

Agriculture remains a critical concern, particularly in the hills where low productivity drives migration. What targeted interventions are being pursued to revitalise the sector?

Agriculture, horticulture, and animal husbandry are what we call the “Sanjeevani sectors” for Uttarakhand. Without fixing these, migration and social stress will continue and if well implemented and scaled, this can emerge as one of the biggest employment generators in the state.

Initially, we believed that connecting farmers to large buyers would solve many problems. While partnerships with organisations such as Tata Consumer Products, Mahindra, and ITC are important, we must realise that market access alone is insufficient. Consistent and quality supply with increased productivity is equally critical.

Strengthening Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) is therefore a major focus—particularly in areas such as access to credit, processes, processing, and market linkages. Agricultural credit, especially for FPOs, remains one of the biggest untapped opportunities in India.

Hill agriculture faces multiple structural challenges: limited irrigation (only 8–10 percent coverage), extremely low mechanisation, animal menace, soil health issues, and crop diseases. Addressing these requires a multi-pronged approach.

We have launched pilot projects in partnership with the Gates Foundation in selected blocks, deploying innovative agri-tech solutions to address mechanisation, crop protection, and animal intrusion along with strengthening agri tech startups in the state. These pilots will be evaluated and can be scaled up based on outcomes.

Irrigation is another priority. We have embarked on strengthening new hill-specific irrigation models with Mahindras, including pressure-based systems adapted to gravity-fed water sources. If successful, these models can be expanded statewide. State has also recently launched Aroma valley and Millet mission and set to launch a farm fencing policy soon.

Animal husbandry is also being strengthened through initiatives such as a technology driven model Goatshed project with Gates Foundation, which aims to improve breeding, rearing practices, and value chains in both hilly and plain districts. This is likely to strengthen current state Goat valley scheme further.

Setu Aayog works with multiple national and international partners. How do you view the role of PPPs and institutional collaboration in Uttarakhand’s development?

Collaboration is no longer optional in public policy, it is essential. Governments alone do not possess all the resources, expertise, or innovation capacity required to address today’s complex development challenges. It is important that state governments understand, internalise and truly adopt this.

Modern public policy must be ecosystem-based, action- oriented, and driven by strategic intent and will. At Setu Aayog as we shaped its culture and approach from beginning within the state government, collaboration is a core principle. In agriculture alone, we work with corporates, NGOs, foundations, and industry bodies—each contributing capital, expertise, technology, or market access. We are collaborating with the National Dairy Development Board to strengthen the dairy sector, and with the Wadhwani Foundation on entrepreneurship and skilling initiatives. We are embarking on an association with QCI to strengthen Panchayat Governance. We also work closely with NITI Aayog and various Union government departments.

PPPs, when designed well, accelerate implementation, reduce risk, and improve outcomes—especially in social sectors and infrastructure.

What governance reforms are necessary to make Uttarakhand future-ready?

Two areas stand out for most state governments in general. The first is data-driven governance. Many initiatives struggle simply because reliable, usable data is unavailable or fragmented across departments. We need a coherent data ecosystem—covering data capture, storage, interoperability, and analytics.

The second is strengthening district and panchayat level planning. Districts must be treated as dynamic, strategic units rather than administrative boundaries. Strengthening district governance, along with capacity building at the Gram Panchayat level, is critical for responsive and localised development.

Interoperability of departmental data, land reforms and digitisation of legacy records are also key steps toward better planning and decision-making in states.

Last and finally, improving the implementation, monitoring and evaluation frameworks are central to policy making. Over the years policy making has been largely separate from these. Integrated view is necessary to avoid delayed and sub-optimal implementations and outcomes which shall make policy making more effective for citizens. This also helps in unlocking or needing less capital resources for better economic and social outcomes. Setu Aayog works closely with many government departments not just for designing policies and programs but working on implementation strategies and together ensuring the pilots for evidence based policy designs are implemented and inter-departmental coordination where needed. Transformation institutions like Setu build on model of Niti Ayog are critical and beneficial to state governance and policy if suitably implemented and supported as an integral part of government.

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Finally, what message would you like to share with young administrators and development professionals?

States are where people governance truly happens. Most citizen interactions occur at the state and local levels, not with the Union government. The future of India lies in strong, innovative, and outcome-driven states which has also been articulated in the vision laid by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as integral part of Viksit Bharat journey. Its important to go beyond the thinking that governments know all and policy is building documents and recommendations. Modern public policy is rooted in collaboration, action, ecosystem thinking, imagining new models, do more in less and focus at outcomes. This requires visionary and inclusive leadership rooted in action.

Young professionals must embrace ecosystem thinking, collaboration, and accountability. There is no shortage of capital, capability, or ideas-what is required is intent, execution, and perseverance. Worthy challenges, after all, bring out the best in us.

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