Author: Nikita Mukhia

From the official page of the Hon’ble Chief Minister

I visited the Sikkim House in Middleton Street and Salt Lake at Kolkata earlier today.
During my visit, I assessed the condition of both the properties owned by the State Government. We inspected the rooms and facilities to look for ways to improve and renovate the facilities. Further, I interacted with the staff, encouraging them to look after the maintenance of the facilities and take ownership of it.
I also met with the patients who have come to Kolkata for treatment and assured every possible help. Similarly, I provided medical assistance to those who urgently required it. I asked everyone to work and improve the services and facilities so it does not turn out to be a liability for the State Government.

The Hon’ble Chief Minister attends the 69th Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Sikkim, Shri Prem Singh Tamang attended the 69th Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council held at the NEC Secretariat, Nongrim Hills, Shillong.
In his brief address, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Prem Singh Tamang highlighted key points concerning Sikkim.
He added that the poor quality of the internet in the State proved to be a hurdle in carrying out several essential services like administrative functioning, medical support and education. He expressed the immediate need for upgrading the internet bandwidth in the State from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps. He also urged for the North East Industrial Scheme of 2018 to be extended by another 10 years adding that it has been beneficial for the region and has brought changes in the structure and the growth pattern of the State’s gross domestic product.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister affirmed that the pandemic affected various sectors due to which only 45% of the budgeted cost was utilised till (December 2020) in the State. In this context, he mentioned that the State Government had written to the Ministry of Finance on October 2020, requesting for the acknowledgement to impose a nominal COVID Cess on the output of organised manufacturing industries dominated by the Pharma Units and the Hydro-electric sector in the State and the responses from the Ministry is still awaited.
Acknowledging the external concerns of the country and the strain on its resources, he added that Sikkim, being a landlocked state has fewer options to manoeuvre and hence requested for the intervention of the Union Government to reduce the shortfall of the transfer of central devolution which the State has only received 47% (by December 2020) as against the projected and allocated devolution of 75%.
Towards the end, he expressed his delight and thanked the scientific community for the vaccines and hailed it as a proud moment for the country as both the vaccines are made in India, setting a shining example of Atmanirbhar Bharat. He also expressed his gratitude towards the Hon’ble Prime Minister for his timely guidance and concern towards the country.
He concluded by wishing everyone a very Happy 72nd Republic Day in advance.
The Hon’ble Union Home Minister/ Chairperson of the council Shri Amit Shah was present along with the Hon’ble Minister, DoNER Shri Jitendra Singh, Chief Ministers and dignitaries from the North-East states, and other officials.
(S.D. Dhakal)
Secretary to HCM
Camp: Guwahati
Dated: 23.01.2021

A stakeholders meeting of the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana in Sikkim was held at South Sikkim

Gangtok, January 24: A stakeholders meeting of the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana in Sikkim was held at Karfectar, Jorethang, South Sikkim on 22nd January, organised by Cooperation Department, State Implementing Agency for the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana(PMVDY) in Sikkim. The meeting was attended by District and Sub Division officials of the Department of South and West District and representatives of Self Help Groups and Cooperatives from 22 clusters of West District and 19 clusters of South District. The meeting was also attended by Registrar, Cooperation Department and Director from Department of Science and Technology, who is the State Nodal Agency to implement PMVDY in the four districts with a target of 80 cluster Van Dhan Kendra’s wherein 300 beneficiaries are to be enrolled in each of 80 Van Dhan Kendras.
It may be mentioned that the aim of PMVDY is to provide short term training to SHG members and Cooperatives to start sustainable harvesting and value additions to minor forest produce along with other rural produce thereby promoting judicious harness of natural resource, traditional skills and art and craft towards certification, branding and marketing of the indigenous produce under the National Mentorship of TRIFED, an agency of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
During the meeting, elaborated discussions were made on the implementation module and the role of different stakeholders as per the Notification issued by the Government in this regard.
The visiting officers also reviewed sub-division wise achievement on preparatory works that was earlier assigned to field officials.
In the meeting, a few SHGs have also showcased some of the items that are proposed to be processed and marketed under the yojana.
A similar meeting was also held at East District Office on 18th January for 18 clusters, and another such meeting is also proposed for 27th January at Mangan, North Sikkim.

Hon’ble MP Shri Indra Hang inaugurates the 5th State Teacher Educators Conference

Gangtok, January 22: State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Sikkim, Education Department, Government of Sikkim organized the 5th STATE TEACHER EDUCATORS CONFERENCE from 21st to 22nd January 2021 at Sidkeong Tulku Hall, Forest Secretariat, Deorali, Gangtok. The conference was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Shri Indra Hang Subba in the presence of Hon’ble Advisor Shri M. P. Subba, Additional Chief Secretary, Education Department, Shri G.P. Upadhyaya, Secretary, Education Department, Shri Anil Raj Rai and Director SCERT, Dr. Rabin Chhetri. The conference also had the presence of Directors and other officials from different Directorates of Education and District Heads.
The conference also had the participation of different National Level Organisations like North East Regional Institute of Education (NIEPA)-NCERT, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi, Azim Premji University (APU) Bengaluru and Teacher Education Institutes from within and outside the State.
The conference which is an annual event of SCERT provides an opportunity for teacher educators and researchers to deliberate and discuss the findings of research conducted on areas of Teacher Education and School Education.
The programme started with a welcome address by Director, SCERT. He also gave a presentation on the programmes and activities conducted by SCERT. He mentioned that the culture of educational research was being encouraged in SCERT and DIETs which would contribute to developing effective policy for the Department of Education. The inaugural session of the programme had a presentation by Prof. B. Barthakur, Principal NERIE on Teacher Education in the light of New National Education Policy 2020 and by Dr. Kashyapi Awasthy, NIEPA, New Delhi on Leading School Complexes as per the recommendation of NEP-2020.
The Additional Chief Secretary Shri G. P. Upadhyaya in his address congratulated SCERT for successfully conducting the Annual Teachers Conference for the 5th consecutive time. He also highlighted how from a humble beginning of two research papers since its inception, the conference has grown to accommodate around 20 research papers this year.
Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Shri Indra Hang Subba, in his inaugural address applauded the work of Education Department and expressed his desire to commit himself for the sake of improvement of the reading habits among the children in the State. He appreciated the community participation to revive Pentong Primary School in Upper Dzongu which was facing closure due to low enrolment of students. He also spoke about a book fair and a book donation drive scheduled to be organized in Sikkim in February this year to help inculcate reading habits among the students.
After the inaugural function, research papers were presented by teacher educators from SCERT, DIETs, Harkamaya College of Education and Nar Bahadur Bhandari Degree College, Gangtok. Altogether, 19 papers that belonged to different areas pertaining to teacher education and school education were presented during four technical sessions of the two days conference.
The valedictory function was chaired by Hon’ble Advisor Shri M. P. Subba in presence of Director SCERT Dr Rabin Chhetri, SPD Samagra Shiksha and Director Elementary Education Shri Bhim Thatal, guests from NERIE, NIEPA and APU, Officials from different Directorates of Education Department, faculty of SCERT and DIETs and participants from different colleges and universities.
The session witnessed a presentation of reports of the seminar by Ms Larissa Lepcha. The two days conference which was coordinated by Dr Mahendra Tamang, Assistant Professor SCERT concluded with vote of thanks by Ms Lensong Lepcha which was followed by a presentation of Certificates and Mementoes to the participants.
(Press release from Education Department)

From the official page of Hon’ble Chief Minister

After a brief hiatus, Pakyong airport is finally operational from today with the landing of a Spice jet flight from New Delhi.
I am grateful to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Hon’ble Minister-in-charge, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri for their timely intervention. The airport operations were put to a halt due to unplanned management and other issues. As soon as we formed the Government, we have rectified the issues and also installed the all weather landing system that was previously missing.
I extend my gratitude and congratulations to Hon’ble Minister Shri B.S Panth for his role in this matter.
I believe this to be the commencement of a new era of travel in Sikkim and will help in mitigating issues faced by the state in terms of transport. I also believe that this will be a big boost for the tourism sector in Sikkim in the years to come.

The Sports & Youth Affairs Department organizes CM’s One Mile Run in Mangan

23rd Jan, Mangan (IPR): The Sports & Youth Affairs Department, Mangan organized the ‘Run with Purpose- Chief Minister’s One Mile Run’ in the District Administrative Centre, Mangan, today. The chief guest for the programme was the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Shri Sonam Lepcha and he was accompanied by Panchayat President Shri. Sherap Bhutia, Zilla Panchayat Shri Mark Tshering Lepcha, officials from the Education department and the police department.
It is pertinent to mention that the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri. P.S. Tamang (Golay) had directed the administrative officials during National Sports Day that the Chief Minister’s One Mile Run- Run With a Purpose should be an initiative with a purpose to engage children of various ages in a healthy activity. This is also done in order to promote club culture in Sikkim, which will eventually lead to scouting of talents, particularly from the rural areas.
The run-in Mangan began from DAC complex up to the Community Hall and back to the DAC complex. Many children participated in the run. The winners were awarded certificates and cash prizes. The winners are as follows:
Under 14 (Boys)
1. Sonam Tamang
2. Sujal Chettri
3. Suman Rai
Under 14 (Girls)
1. Roshni Khatoon
2. Chosang Lepcha
3. Manisha Tamang

Hon’ble Governor paid floral tribute at the portrait of late Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Gangtok, January 23 (Raj Bhawan): Hon’ble Governor, Shri Ganga Prasad paid floral tribute at the portrait of late Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary. Hon’ble Governor remembered Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as one of India’s greatest freedom fighters.
The Birth Anniversary of late Netaji is being observed as “PARAKRAM DIVAS” in order to honour and remember his indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation and to inspire people of the country to act with resilience in the face of adversity.
The Hon’ble Governor said, “Netaji remains an icon of India’s freedom struggle. His patriotism and bravery continue to remain etched in the Nation’s conscience and inspire the future generations”