The crisis situation that built up in the early twentieth century should have been reversed after independence. But hardly anything was done. Uttarakhand became a part of the large state of Uttar Pradesh, which could hardly address the issues of development properly. During the colonial period, the hill region of the North-Western Provinces, and later United Provinces, was a non-regulatory province. Hence, there was at least recognition of the specific problem of the Himalayan region, but this category disappeared in the post-colonial period. And the region began to be known more and more as ‘backward’ and ‘marginal’. Rangan argues that these terms came to be applied to Uttarakhand only after independence.

Since the state could hardly do much for development, the Uttarakhand society lapsed steadily into ‘backwardness’. No efforts were made to improve agriculture–the main occupation of the people. Virtually, no infrastructure like improved irrigation facilities and an efficient transport network was created. Agriculture extension services taken up vigorously by many states, argues Pokhriyal, were not taken up seriously in Uttarakhand. In the hills, the support of the state was essential to reinvigorate agriculture. But it was largely missing. The indifference of the bureaucracy to address the issues of development played an important role in relegating the region into ‘backwardness’. The people from outside the hills mostly manned the top of the bureaucracy. Not used to a life in the hills, the officials regarded their postings in the hills a punishment.