Author: Prayas Gurung

STATE DAY 2019 CELEBRATED AT CHINTAN BHAWAN

Gangtok, May 16: (IPR) The 44th State Day celebration was observed at Chintan Bhawan, today. The Governor Mr. Ganga Prasad was present as the chief guest and the Chief Minister Mr. Pawan Kumar Chamling was the guest of honour.

The programme began with the lighting of ceremonial lamp by the Governor, Mr. Ganga Prasad, Chief Minister Mr. Pawan Chamling, Deputy Speaker (SLA), Mr. Sonam Gyatso Lepcha and Chief Secretary, Mr.A.K.Shrivastava.

The Governor in his address said that Sikkim became a part of the largest democracy of the world on 16th May, 1975 and the journey so far has been fruitful and fulfilling. The Governor said that the State Day is a joyous occasion when the people of Sikkim can recall with pride, enthusiasm and satisfaction, the multifarious and significant achievement made by the Government during the past years. “ Sikkim has managed to emerge as one of the best all round performing State in the country within four and half decades of becoming a part of the Indian Union.” said the Governor. He further added that Sikkim stands tall and is working with more zeal and keenness to make the State as a model in the country. With the outstanding work done by Sikkim, the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, also shares his vision and has lauded Sikkim for bagging the Gold at the Future Policy Award in Rome for being the World’s first totally Organic State, he said. He also stated that the Prime Minister termed Future Policy Gold Award, 2018 as equivalent to an Oscar and complimented the State Government and the people of Sikkim for the overall development. The Governor also congratulated the Chief Secretary, State Election Commission, Chief Electoral Officer, District Election Officers and all officials and staff who were involved in conducting a free, fair and peaceful election as a festival of Democracy.

The Chief Minister, Mr. Pawan Chamling in his address extended best wishes to the people on the occasion and highlighted the significance of the State Day. He also briefed the journey of Sikkim on being the 22nd State of India. The Chief Minister Mr Pawan Chamling stated that Sikkim has created history in every field for the all round development in the past 25 years. He appealed to the gathering not to misuse the democratic rights provided by the Constitution of India and to always join hands to work for the betterment and development of the State.

On the occasion, L. D. Kazi award for Democratic Rights was presented to late Mr. Namgyal Tshering Euthenpa by Governor, Mr. Ganga Prasad with a cash prize of Rs. I lakh. The award was received by his daughter Mrs. Chumsey Doma.The citation of late Mr. Namgyal Tshering Euthenpa was read by the Chief Secretary, Mr. A. K. Shrivastava. The Jeevan Rakshak Padak Award was presented to Mr. Chandra Kumar Gurung by the Chief Minster Mr. Pawan Chamling for his act of bravery for saving life of a man who accidently fell into Rani Khola.

The programme also saw singing of patriotic songs by the students and artists of Tadong Senior Secondary School, Deorali Girls Senior Secondary School and Cultural Affairs and Heritage Department, respectively,

Earlier, the Governor, Chief Minister and the dignitaries present paid tribute to the statue of L.D.Kazi who was the first Chief Minister of democratic Sikkim.

The welcome address was delivered by the Chief Secretary while the vote of thanks was proposed by Secretary, Information and Public Relations Department, Mrs. Sherap Shenga

Second round briefing on Counting of Votes to the Officers who have been entrusted with counting task was held at conference hall of District Administrative Centre, Mangan

Mangan, May 15 (IPR): The second round briefing on Counting of Votes to the Officers who have been entrusted with counting task was held at conference hall of District Administrative Centre, Mangan today.
The District Election Officer (DEO)-cum-District Magistrate, Shri Raj Yadav chaired the meeting and briefed the gathering about the counting process involving Counting Supervisor (CS), Counting Agents (CA) and Micro-Observers (MO). The DEO told the counting officers to be more cautious and there will be no room for error during counting of votes. He also urged all counting officers to co-operate and maintain the decorum during the day of counting.
Present in the meeting were, Shri Kunzang Dorjee Shangderpa, Sr. Superintendent of Police, North, Shri Samdup Bhutia, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mangan, Shri Mahesh Sharma Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Kabi, Shri Subash Ghimire, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Chungthang, Shri Norbu Tshering Bhutia , Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dzongu, Kabi, Shri Santosh Pradhan Under Secretary, Election Department and the officials vested with the task of vote counting.
The EVMs will be taken out at 7:30 am from strong room in the presence of all political parties and Counting of votes pertaining to Assembly Constituencies i.e. 29-Kabi-lungchok, 30-Dzongu, 31- Lachen-Mangan, 32- Sangha and no. 1- Sikkim Parliamentary constituency will take place from 8 am on 23rd of May in hall no. 1 and hall no. 2 at strong room, District Administrative Centre, Mangan.
The Postal Ballot will be counted first. There will be twelve counting tables, six each for Parliamentary and State Legislative Assembly.
Counting of votes pertaining to assembly segments of Sikkim parliamentary constituency and assembly constituencies shall be done in hall no. 1 and hall no. 2 respectively.
Each candidate shall be allowed to appoint 8 numbers of counting agents; 6 for counting table + one postal ballot table + one for computation or returning officer table to witness the counting process for Assembly Constituencies.
Similarly, each candidate shall be allowed to appoint 7 numbers of counting agents; 6 for counting table + 1 for computation or returning officer table for parliamentary constituencies.
All such counting agents have to appoint under law, in Form- 18 before May 20. Photo ID cards will be issued to all counting agents by the returning officer and without photo ID cards they shall be denied entry into the counting hall.
SP North briefed about the security arrangements of the counting day. Identification Cards will be needed to enter the DAC. The venue for parking place of vehicles of belonging to the political parties will take place in Mangan Public Ground. A vehicle pass will be given to vehicles granted by the Election department and only the vehicles with those pass will be allowed inside the DAC for pick and drop.

To ensure tight security arrangements 100 meter periphery around a counting premise /campus should be demarcated as “pedestrian Zone”. No vehicle shall be allowed within this perimeter accept for official vehicles of ECI Observers; RO/AROs and SSP/ District Police Officers for law and order reason.
Three tier cordoning system should be set up in all counting centers to prevent entry of unauthorized persons inside the counting center. The first or outer cordon shall be at the start of the pedestrian zone and it shall be manned by the state police force. Identity of persons wanting to in has to be established at this stage. The second or middle cordon shall be at the gate of the counting premise/campus and it shall be manned by the state armed police. Proper frisking should be made by the state police force personnel only to ensure that no prohibited items like match box, arms etc. are carried inside. Women shall be frisked only by women police personnel/women home guards. The forces responsible for enforcing second cordon shall also ensure that no one is loitering outside the counting halls and using mobile phones or other communication equipments. The third or inner cordon shall be at the door of the counting hall. This will be manned by central armed police forces. There will be frisking arrangements at this stage too to ensure that no mobile phones and other prohibited items are carried inside the counting hall.
Observers of the ECI are allowed to carry their mobile phone inside the counting center and DEO/RO is allowed to use his mobile phone from designated rooms at the counting center.
The persons allowed in the counting hall are; counting supervisors/assistance and micro observers, Persons authorized by the ECI and observers, Public servants on duty in connection with the election and candidates, their election agents and counting agents.
During the meeting, it was also informed that the Additional Returning Officer (ARO) and Returning Officer (RO) will be incharge of all the operations on the Counting day. The decision made by the Returning Officer (RO) will be final on the counting day. The ARO and RO will be there to address any confusion concerning the counting process
The DEO informed everyone that the results of VVPAT slips will prevail if the number of vote tallies between VVPAT machine and Control Unit does not match

Coordination Meeting cum counselling for parents and students for admissions for Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) held at DAC, West Sikkim

Gyalshing, 26th April 2019 (IPR): A coordination meeting cum counselling for parents and students for admissions Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), Gerethang, West was held at the Conference hall of District Administration Centre (DAC), Rabdentse. Shri. Tushar G. Nikhare, SDM (HQ); Smt. T. Eden Bhutia, Addl. Director HRDD along with Smt. Sushma Mohra, Principal, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), Gerethang, West Sikkim.
SDM (HQ), in his address motivated the present students, while advising them on having dignity of labour towards studies and also encouraged them by informing about the learning opportunity that they should take full advantage. He also mentioned the importance of extracurricular activities while keeping academics as their main target.
Further, he urged the parents for their constant support and attention towards school activities. In similar context, he asked them to work cooperatively by engaging themselves in to productive activities in regards to make school and its environment better for the children.
SDM (HQ) asked the students not to indulge in activities like sloganeering & concentrate all their efforts in studies in this phase of their life. He also advised the Parents to cultivate habits of newspaper reading themselves so that their wards can emulate them. Also parents were asked to actively participate in SMC forums & contribute with their ideas & efforts for betterment of school.
Lastly, he concluded his address by advising the students on importance of performing well in academics, to which he informed that, it will fetch them with best opportunities in future.
The Addl. Director, HRDD informed and highlighted the necessary guidelines of the school, in regards to which she formally advised the parents of the students to go through guidelines of the school thoroughly and also to take good understanding of the norms disclosed in under taking forms without fail. Further she, strongly advised to disclose the illness of their wards, if they are suffering from any. She than asked parents to submit any kind of complains in written form addressing to Additional Director duly forwarded by the Principal.
After the program, filling of admission forms and relative information was also given by the Principal and the staffs of the school

DEO West Meets with the Printers and Publishers of West Sikkim

Gyalshing, 19th March, 2019 (IPR): A meeting was called by the DC-cum-DEO West Shri. Karma R. Bonpo with the Printers and Publishers of West Sikkim at the DC Office today. The DEO explained in details about the “127A. RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRINTING OF PAMPHLETS, POSTERS ETC.” to the proprietors present in the meeting. He explained that all elections related materials need to have the name and addresses of the publishers and the printers. He also mentioned that 3 sets sample copies of the printed materials along with the ‘Appendix A’ needs to be submitted to the DEO.

The DEO advised that the Printers need to be careful while printing materials in regards to Elections and that the Appendix A need to be filled by the concerned publishers. He urged the printers that the Order of the Election commission N0. 3/9/(ES008)/94-J.S. II dated 2nd September, 1994 needs to be followed without fail.

A copy of Appendix A was also provided by the Office of DEO West to the Printers present in the meeting.

Expenditure Monitoring which should be observed by all the various party candidates

Gangtok, March 19: (IPR) Meeting was held in the chamber of the District Election Officer (DEO) Shri Kapil Meena with the various party representatives informing them about the major provisions related to Expenditure Monitoring which should be observed by all the various party candidates. The party representatives were advised on how the candidates are supposed to maintain accounts so as to ensure all expenses incurred by candidates are properly accounted for. Further clarification was given by Expenditure Observers to the queries and doubts raised by party representatives.

Expenditure Observers for East District

Gangtok, March 19: (IPR) The 4 Expenditure Observers for East District namely the Commissioner (Excise) Shri Vinayak Azad who is the Expenditure Observer for Parliamentary Constituency; Addl Commissioner (Income Tax) Shri Rajesh Kumar who is the Expenditure Observer for Assembly Constituencies (17-22); Jt. Commissioner (Excise) Shri Devesh Gupta who is the Expenditure Observer for Assembly Constituencies (23-28) and Shri Ravi Patel who is the Expenditure Observer for Sangha AC arrived in the state yesterday had their first review meetings with various groups today. In the morning the Expenditure Observers first conducted the meeting with Assistant Expenditure Observers (AEOs) and they were briefed about the Expenditure Monitoring Mechanism for the upcoming General Elections 2019.

The Expenditure Observers then met with the Accounting Teams and were given a brief about the general guidelines of the Election Commission of India on Expenditure Monitoring and all doubts raised by participants were also clarified by them.

This was followed by a meeting with the SP East Shri Hemraj Rai, Dy Commissioner (Excise) Smt Binita Sharma, Dy Commissioner (Income Tax) Shri Suraj Bhan Garhwal on the preparations being made for ensuring coordination among all agencies involved in Expenditure Monitoring for upcoming General Elections 2019.
The phone numbers of the Expenditure Observers are:
1. Shri Vinayak Azad, Observer PC: 6294254045
2. Shri Rajesh Kumar, Observer AC (17-22): 9064595948
3. Shri Devesh Gupta, Observer AC (23-28): 6294266747
4. Shri Ravi Patel, Observer 32 Sangha AC: 7076988286

Second round training for North District

Mangan, 18 March (IPR): Second round training for Sector Magistrate (SM), Sector Police Officer (SPO), Assistant Expenditure Observer (AEO), Flying Squads Team (FST), Static Surveillance Team (SST), Video Surveillance Team (VST), Video Viewing Team (VVT) and Accounting Team of North District was conducted at the conference hall of District Administrative Center, North, today.
The training was conducted in the presence of Shri Ravi Patel, Railway and Account Services who is the Expenditure Observer of North District. He was accompanied by District Magistrate cum Returning Officer (RO), Shri Raj K Yadav and Superintendent of Police, North, Shri Kunzang Dorjee Sangdarpa.
National Level Master Trainer cum Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kabi, Shri Mahesh Sharma trained to the SM, SPO, AEO, FST, SST, VST, VVT and Accounting Team on different issue related to election procedure. He also explained in detail about the duties and responsibilities of all extended teams those who are engaged in election.
He made clear about the expenditure of the candidate who is contesting in Assembly Constituency and Parliamentary Constituency. Candidate who is contesting for Assembly Constituency and Parliamentary Constituency should not exceed his or her expenditure as stipulated in guideline of Election Commission of India (ECI).
Talking on C-VIGIL Application he emphasized to make use of the said application to the participants for fast and effective communication during the course of election.
He informed that if any voter forgets to take his or her EPIC card along with them on polling day at the time he or she can cast vote by verifying their name in voter list and by producing the following alternate documents viz. Passport, Driving License, Service Identity Card, Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees Central/State Govt./Public Limited Companies, Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, MNREGA Job Card, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Pension document with photograph, Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs, and Adhaar Card.