Sikkim Herald

The three-day event is organised by the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs in collaboration with Mangan Sporting Club.

The event was graced by Additional Political Secretary to HCM (North) Shri Tshering Wangyal Bhutia as the chief guest. He was accompanied by Panchayat President Shri Sherap Bhutia, Principal Mangan Senior Secondary School, Deputy Director Sports and Youth Affairs and members of Mangan Sporting Club.

The participants from all the blocks are as follows: Mangan Sporting Club, Dzongu Sporting Club, Chungthang Sporting Club and Evergreen Sporting club (Kabi).

The winners will represent the District for the State level Championships on 20th of October at Bhaichung Stadium, Namchi.

Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, Shri Kailash Choudhary, graced the occasion as chief guest in the presence of Minister of AH&VS, Agriculture and Horticulture, Shri Lok Nath Sharma, MP Lok Sabha, Shri Indra Hang Subba, MLA, Martam-Rumtek, Shri Sonam Tshering Venchungpa, and MLA, Gangtok, Shri Y.T. Lepcha, Panchayats, along with the HoDs and staff of the Agriculture, Horticulture and AH&VS departments.

Addressing the gathering, chief guest, Shri Kailash Choudhary, commended the efforts of the State government in the agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry sectors defined for the welfare of farmers and agripreneurs. He stressed on the need to improve the economic stability of the farmers and assured that the Central government will extend its full support to the State to help optimise the potential of these sectors to support the economic growth of farmers and stakeholders. He briefed about the various schemes and incentives being provided for farmers and encouraged all to tap into integrated farming systems in order to increase farmers income through sustainable agriculture activities.

Minister of AH&VS, Agriculture and Horticulture, Shri Lok Nath Sharma, in his address, reiterated the State government’s commitment towards prioritising and adopting unique farming policies and schemes to strengthen agricultural support services for farmers and stakeholders in the State. He congratulated the concerned departments for organising the livestock show that has successfully brought together all the stakeholders including farmers, agripreneurs, rural youth and policymakers in one platform enabling them to share and access innovative ideas available in the field of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and other allied sectors.

He urged the farmers and the youth to avail full benefit of the various schemes, insurances and incentives being provided by the Central and State governments for improving agricultural productivity, profitability and sustainability. Highlighting on the significant role of farmers in achieving the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, he assured full support of the State government and further requested all to work in coordination with the allied departments and support the farming policies that brings about key reforms in agriculture and other related sectors.

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Shri Indra Hang Subba, extended gratitude to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, GoI and the State government for spearheading innovative ways to transform agriculture and allied sectors thus improving income of farmers through sustainable as well as inclusive growth.

The programme was also addressed by Area MLA, Martam Rumtek, Shri Venchungpa, wherein he exhorted the concerned departments to take all the government schemes to the grassroots level.

During the event, farm loans through the lead bank SBI and tokens including agricultural machinery tools were distributed to the beneficiaries of East district

The main motive of this program is to create awareness among people about the single use plastic and ensuring their involvement in Clean India Camping.

The programme had the presence of Advisor IT Department, Shri. T. N. Lamtha, Secretary, Food & Civil Supplies Department, Smt. Deepa Rani Thapa, DDG NIC New Delhi, Shri. D. C. Misra via Video Conference, Member State Commission, Shri. D. P. Sharma, officials of NIC HQ Delhi, NIC Gangtok and Food & Civil Supplies Department.

Addressing the function, Minister Shri Arun Upreti said that India is matching its shoulders with the rest of the world when it comes to use of technology in Governance. Many National Digital Missions are rolled out by the Prime Minister, out of which E-Daakhil is setting an exemplary footprint and is counted among one of the successful missions.

The Minister further said that E-Daakhil is one of a kind portal. Earlier, the complainant had to visit the District Commission and State Commission for filing of the complaint. They had to manually go to the bank to make a draft to be submitted as court fees and the paperwork was cumbersome.

With the enactment of Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which has stated specific provisions for filing of complaint online, E-Daakhil portal will prove to be a boon to the aggrieved consumers. Now, the court will reach the houses of the complainant in India, where the complainants can avail the portal to pay their fees online through UPI, Internet Banking, Debit Card, etc.

The benevolent nature of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 shall be appreciated by all in the coming future.

The Minister stated that it will also be the duty of the Department to organise outreach programs so that every consumer in Sikkim is aware about the E-Daakhil portal. With Online Case Monitoring System under CONFONET project already in place, E-Daakhil is an additional boon for the customers. Sikkim is the 23rd Commission amongst all the States and Union Territories to launch the E-Daakhil portal. It proves that we are not lagging behind in the implementation of projects and missions introduced by the Central Government and will try and be amongst the first ones in the future.

He congratulated the Department, State Commission and District Commission for achieving this milestone and expressed hope that they will in co-ordination with NIC make this mission a successful one.

DDG, NIC, New Delhi, Shri. D. C. Misra in his address mentioned that in Sikkim, NIC was established in 1991 with a signing of MoU by the State Heads and officials of NIC HQ. In the present day, all the districts of Sikkim have established NIC offices, and with diligent effort and work of NIC officers, facility of e-governance is successfully implemented in the State. The employees of NIC have been facilitating softwares according to the needs of the State Government. Standard softwares that have been developed by the Central Government have also been successfully implemented in Sikkim due to the vision and support of the State Government.

Sikkim is the 2nd State in the North East Region to launch the E-Daakhil portal. The main aspect of this portal is that even minute grievances of consumers, regardless of the amount, can be registered and processed within an efficient frame of time.

He congratulated and thanked the State Government for the successful launch of the portal and mentioned that the support and guidance of the State Government will be a huge encouragement for future implementation of various e-governance portals for ease and efficiency of the Government.

Earlier, the welcome address was delivered by Deputy Secretary, Food & Civil Supplies Department, Ms. Tripti Hangma Subba.

Presentation of E-Daakhil portal was delivered by Sr. Technical Director, NIC Sikkim, Dr. L. P. Sharma, and Vote of Thanks was proposed by State Informatics Officer, NIC Sikkim, Shri. Birendra Chettri.

Addressing the media, Minister Shri Choudhary said that the Government of India has laid great emphasis on the overall development of the North Eastern region of India. He said that the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has ensured that the biggest challenge of connectivity has been addressed to a good extent, and efforts are being made to transfer all the developmental schemes and technological support to the region. He further said that schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana are being successfully implemented in the region. The Minister added that the Government of India is further encouraging the States to facilitate the formation of Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) in each Block. Likewise, the Government of India has been providing financial support to the States in areas like processing, packaging, marketing and value addition of agricultural produce.

The Minister of State lauded the initiatives being taken by the Government of Sikkim in the field of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry. He said that the livestock show is a unique initiative to support and honour the farming community, as well as to encourage the youth to embrace this sector. He stressed that the agriculture sector should be made more attractive for the educated youth.

Shri Choudhary also spoke about the focus being laid by the Government of India on the North East Region for the cultivation of Oil Palm. He said that this is being taken up on Mission mode because of the suitability of North Eastern States for Oil Palm Cultivation, to meet the high demand of oil in the country. He added that the Mission will also be implemented in Sikkim, along with all the other North Eastern States. He said that this will be a huge step towards self-sustainability and realizing the vision of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.

The Minister concluded his address by stating that the State of Sikkim will continue to receive the guidance and support of the Government of India in all areas of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry

This program aims at creating awareness among people and ensuring their involvement in Clean India Camping.