Gopeshwar, Nov 19 (PTI) A group of young locals on Friday set out barefoot on a march to Gairsain, demanding "one state, one capital".

Uttarakhand currently has two capitals, Dehradun and Gairsain.

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Gairsain was made the summer capital of the state in March last year.

Led by Praveen Singh Kashi, a strong votary of Gairsain being made the permanent capital of Uttarakhand, the group embarked on the journey after offering prayers at the Gopinath temple here.

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As they started the march they also held a public meeting here to spell out the objective of the padyatra.

"There can be no justification for a small state like Uttarakhand having two capitals, which is a British era concept and a sheer waste of taxpayers' money," Kashi said.

The denial of permanent capital status to Gairsain is the result of politics against the hills, he said.

Unless the Uttarakhand government sits in Gairsain, it will not be able to formulate an agricultural and industrial policy for the hills, the absence of which has been the root cause of migration, he said.

"Ever since Uttarakhand was created 35 lakh people have migrated from its hills and 400 villages have become ghost villages," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)