Dehradun, Aug 8 — Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has reacted to a plea by cricketer Rishanh Pantfor help in purchasing land to build a house in his home state and has issued instructions to officials concerned to tackle the issue as per the rules and assist the India wicketkeeper-batter.
Pant made his plea in a social media post around midnight, tagging CM Dhami, seeking help in buying land in the hills to build his first house as he wants to shift his base from Delhi.
"Dear Rishabh, you are the pride of Uttarakhand. Through your magnificent sporting performance and achievements, you have brought glory to 'Devbhoomi' on both the national and global stages. Your love for your homeland and your desire to return and contribute here are truly commendable," Chief Minister Dhami said in a reply to Pant's post.
"Instructions are being issued to the concerned officials regarding the matter you raised. They will contact you shortly to ensure all possible assistance in accordance with the rules," CM Dhami added.
The social media post late in the night tagging the Chief Minister has surprised many, as Rishabh Pant's family already has a house in Rourkee in the state and can easily get in touch with property dealers in the city he prefers and buy available land.
But Pant seems to have taken an unusual route to seek help to buy land in the hills for his 'first house', making a social media post from Sri Lanka, where he is on tour with the Indian cricket team.
In his post tagging Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Pant wrote, "Hello sir, how’s you ??? (sic) It’s a long time for me, especially being local from Uttarakhand. I have been trying to buy land to shift my base from Delhi to Uttarakhand, and I couldn’t find anything facilitating and big to live here. I love my Uttarakhand. My humble request."
He then followed it up with another post in which he made it clear that he is not seeking the last parcel as a gift from the state but would rather like to buy land for his base.
"A gift would be lovely for representing our state at the highest level internationally, but if you allow me, I wanna buy it from Government and on their rates; at least I can have my first house built in my own state and our state. Please be helpful. Seriously, I didn’t know how to do it," Pant said in his post at midnight on Friday.
The Chief Minister's response this morning has now set the wheels in motion, with officials likely to get in touch with the wicketkeeper-batter to take things forward.
Pant hails from Uttarakhand but has played most of his cricket for Delhi and District Cricket Association at the domestic level.