Solidarity Forum Reiterates Tribal State Status

Solidarity Forum reiterates Tribal State Status

10 Feb, Gangtok : ( Voice of Sikkim)

The Solidarity Forum of Sikkim has once again strengthened its demand for tribal status for the state of Sikkim. A forum meet was called at Limboo Bhawan in the capital on 9 February where the eminent Veteran Journalist and thinker Shri CD Rai apprised about the Chief Minister Shri Pawan Chamling’s recommendation for inclusion 11 sub-casts (of Nepali Community) to central government for the tribal status.
The forum allege that central government is doing injustice by not letting tribal status. Speaking during the meet the forum President Shri Bharat Basnett asked the SDF government to look into the matter for delivering justice to the left outs. Based on the report of Burman Commission the tribal status must be given in the larger interests of the communities,he said.
The tribal status is a crucial demand which every intellectuals must think for, Basnet also urged the organizations to make it possible by pressing the matter as primary agenda.
Similarly Shri Rai, Former Chief Secretary Shri PK Pardhan and Social worker cum President of Sikkim Citizen Forum Shri Thukchuk Lachungpa also deliberated justifying the need for communities by communal harmony and unity among all communities in the state.
The meet observed release of Nepali version of Burman Committee report from hand of Shri Rai.

A delegation of Rangpo welcoming HE the Governor

Sikkim Chief Minister reviewed the status of works carried out

Gangtok, 13th Jan: Chief Minister Mr Pawan Chamling chaired the coordination meeting of all Heads of Government Departments here at Chintan Bhawan today. The Chief Minister reviewed the status of works carried out as a follow up of the last coordination meeting held on 18th June, 2013. The Chief Minister laid down issues that needed urgent intervention from all Departments, and also made a series of important announcements. 

After reviewing the progress of work stipulated in the last meeting, the Chief Minister made the following reiterations:

1) Databank of employees of all Government Departments to be prepared on priority.

2) Officers of the level of Special Secretary and above to invariably visit the Districts once in two months.

3) Salary of Namchi Blind School employees be immediately dispatched.

4) 17000 unemployed youth to be imparted skill training within two years. 

5) Need to render adequate publicity to the Helpline created for mitigation of issues like crime, rape, suicides and any unlawful activities in the State.

6) Adequate training to Lines-men working in Power Department for aversion of any accident.

7) Immediate construction of Village Level Workers'(VLW) Quarters. Issues like land acquisition be dealt with effectively.

8) About the goal of the Government towards making Sikkim a total Organic State by 2015, the Chief Minister informed that the State has achieved 100% organic certification. This, he said, should be complimented with adequate awareness to the people, especially the farming community, for sustenance of the Mission. 

9) The Chief Minister recalled a directive issued two years back to the Forest Department for the supply of substantial quantity of timber to the RM&DD for construction of houses under CMRHM and REDRH. He called for immediate compliance. 

The Chief Minister further laid down a list of deliverables:

1) He announced the dates for Janata Mela to be held in all the District Headquarters; 31st January in Mangan, 2nd February in Gangtok, 4th February in Namchi, and 6th February in Geyzing.  In this connection, he directed concerned departments like RM&DD, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry,Horticulture, SIDICO and SAABCO to ensure availability of all required materials,sanction list, grant in the form of schemes and cheques to be handed over to the beneficiaries.He made a special mention of grant of vehicles to beneficiaries considering the upsurge of tourism industry in the State.

2) Tourism loans should give more impetus to individuals establishing tourism-related amenities. Also, preference be given to activities like poultry, dairy farming, floriculture and agriculture.

3) He directed the UD&HD Department to regularise all unauthorised houses especially in areas like Rongli, Rangpo, Nayabazar and Rorathang within the month of January. 

4) He directed the Power Department and RM&DD to facilitate electricity and water supply schemes in villages which have been completely left out.

5) The Chief Minister issued a directive to the Forest Department to use the timber from the road widening for implementation of schemes like REDRH and CMRHM. He also directed for the establishment of a saw mill each in Melli, Legship and Ravangla for supply of timber to RM&DD for timely implementation of the Rural Housing Schemes. 

6) He called for urgent action to regularise all ad-hoc employees who have served for 10 years and above.He added that the Government has already regularised employees who served for 15-20 years.

7) He directed the HRDD to remove all bottle-necks related to posting and transfer of teachers in all schools, timely supply of books and uniforms before the beginning of the next session. He was loud and clear in his directive that all problems related to the above issues be redressed within the month of January.

8)The Chief Minister also called for timely up-gradation of schools.

9) The Chief Minister directed the DOP to carry out promotions, transfers and other staffing related work  on priority.

10) He urged the concerned department to tap any shortage of food and essential commodities before and during the upcoming elections. 

11) He also urged the concerned department to use State quotas for food grains like wheat very judiciously. 

12) The Chief Minister directed the Police Department to increase police cover in sensitive areas and be vigilant about any peace-thwarting elements operating from within the State. 

13) He directed the Power Department to make all the water fountains functional.

14) He directed the DOP to remove issues related to variation in pay structure of employees of different categories before the initiation of the 6th Pay Commission. 

15) He further directed the DOP to remove the Assured Career Progression Scheme, and expedite the process of employee regularization in a few departments like IPR and HRDD.

16) The Chief Minister called on the HODs to come out with suggestions to improve the administrative setup for a more advanced and transparent system of functioning, with impetus on accountability and responsibility among the subordinates. He also stressed on the need to improve e-governance and power decentralization at the level of the GVK.

17) He called for making annual recruitment drive mandatory for filling up vacancies.

In the course of the meeting, the Chief Minister also made a few important announcements: 

1) 50 units free electricity to rural household  would be increased to 100 units w.e.f. 1st April 2014.

2) Grant of financial assistance to Government College students to be revived w.e.f. 1st April 2014.It may be mentioned here that the scheme had been discontinued for a brief period.

3) 75% subsidy will be given to any educated unemployed youth to start a business. The relaxation in subsidy will extend to areas like driving licence, environmental clearance etc.

4) Mabong Singyang GVK, currently under Chakung West Sikkim, be shifted to Soreng for public convenience.

5) BPL category people seeking medical treatment should be granted a one-time advance grant of 2 lakhs. Any expenditure above this amount should be reimbursed subsequently. 

6) Admission rate to schools should be 100% and drop out rate should be brought down to 0%. 

7) The Chief Minister accorded in-principle approval for the construction of a Football Academy at Rangpo Mining Ground, Mazitar, East Sikkim.He stated that the ground does not have the required facilities for a cricket ground,and hence suggested for the football academy.

The meeting had the presence of Chief Secretary Smt R. Ongmu, DGP, Heads of Departments, DCs and SPs from all Districts.

The State Government vide notification number 87/Home/2013 dated 27^th December 2013 has constituted a committee for implementation, construction and beautification of the Statue of Unity at M.G.Marg, Gangtok under the Chairmanship of Shri Karma Tempo Namgyal Gyaltsen and Secretary, Tourism, Tourism and CA Department, Government of Sikkim as Member Secretary. The other members of the Committee are Shri Narendra Kumar Pradhan, Shri Karma Namgyal Topgay, Shri Dorjee Namgyal Bhutia, Shri Shakti Singh and Shri Thukchuk Lachungpa.

Nepal's Radical Communist Movement

Framing of Nationalism in Nepal's Radical Communist Movement: The India Factor

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Post Bahadur Basnet

Source:IDSA

November 29, 2013

Event: 

 Fellows' Seminar

Type: 

 Open to all Members; others pl. contact Conference Cell

Time: 

 1030 to 1300 hrs

Chairperson: Brig Rumel Dahiya, SM (Retd)
External Discussants: Ambassador Deb Mukherji and Ms Akashnya Shah
Internal Discussants: Dr Anand Kumar and Dr Anshuman Behera

Mr Post Bhadur Basnet, SAARC Visiting Fellow from Nepal presented his paper titled “Framing of Nationalism in Nepal’s Radical Communist Movement: The Indian Factor” on 29 November 2013.

The paper argues that the Maoists used “negative nationalism”, based on anti-Indian sentiments, as one of the key “revolutionary” strategies during the insurgency. The same band of nationalism continues to feature in the radical communist discourse, though it seems to have lost much of its appeal among the masses during the course of democratic politics in which the Maoists willingly participated since 2005.

The genesis of anti-Indianism goes back to the days of the formation of Nepali state. The 1950 treaty, which aimed to bring Nepal under the security sphere of India that possibly checked the import of communism to Nepal from China, has been a major irritant for the communists. India’s security concern requires an India-friendly regime in Nepal and thus India is seen to be meddling in the internal affairs of the country and favouring some actors over the others, which is viewed as external interference in Nepal’s internal politics and leads to anti-India sentiments amongst the Nepalese people. Moreover, “not-to-be-an-Indian” is one of the key features in the identity formation process in Nepal. All these features collectively offered a fertile ground to the political actors to manufacture and exploit anti–India sentiments to their benefit over the years.

During the monarchy period, the king was successful in sustaining his regime by instigating anti-Indianism and gathering the support of the communists. Once the relationship between the monarchy and the communists was broken, there was a regime change in Nepal. With the monarchy gone, the paper argues, the role of nationalism for political mobilisation is no longer effective.

The Maoists after 2006 have realised that the anti-India card does not work in the changed global, regional and domestic political matirx. The mainstream faction of the Maoist party led by Prachanda has removed India from its hit-list, and started talking about the internal nationalism (ethnic federalism and development). However, the radical faction in the Maoist Party led by Kiran Baidya continues to talk about external intervention and take an anti-Indian line while framing its version of Nepalese nationalism. The presenter argued that while the line of “externalised nationalism” may have lost its glamour, the Maoist plan for consolidating ‘internal nationalism’ through emphasis on ethnic nationalism has pushed the Nepali state into a state of wilderness.

The presenter provides the following recommendations which according to him can remove the prevailing anti-India sentiments in Nepal:

• India should pay attention to dissemination of information regarding its approach to Nepal. In this regard, Indian Embassy should extend its network with journalists.
• Indian investment in Nepal should increase. Other than in the hydro power sector, India should invest in agriculture in the plains and mid-hills and in the capacity-building of security forces.
• India should recognise and analyse the reasons for the spread of anti-India sentiments in Nepal. There are frequent complaints about India micro-managing Nepalese politics. India should address this issue.
• India should try to build contacts with all the political actors and should not be seen as favouring some actors over others. While playing its role to build political consensus in matters concerning its security it should take care not to isolate any party and keep a low profile.
• There should be proper coordination between Ministry of External affairs and intelligence agencies in their approach to Nepal.

Comments of the discussants

The discussants have made the following observations about the paper:

• The paper talked about hill-based nationalism rather than Nepali nationalism.
• Nationalism has been used in the paper as a synonym of anti-Indianism.
The paper gives an impression that China is interested to play its own political game in Nepal. However, it was argued by the discussants that it was the Nepalese who wanted to play the China card. China is quite pragmatic in its dealings with Nepal.
• To justify the title, a separate section on India factor should be incorporated in the paper.
The paper is detailed and timely. However to make it more up-to-date it should accommodate the analysis on the latest Constituent Assembly (CA) election results.

“SIKKIM BIHARI TRADE & SOCIAL ORGANISATION “

Today a new organisation of Bihari Community was formed In the name of “SIKKIM BIHARI TRADE & SOCIAL ORGANISATION “ at Saramsa garden Ranipool . Around 300 peoples from all districts of Sikkim were present in the meeting. The meeting was presided by Mr. Bijay Gupta from Namchi . Mr. Ram Pujan Singh (Founder President & Patron of Sikkim Bihari Jagran Manch) as Chief Guest and Mr. Baliram Prasad of Ranipool as special Guest. 

An adhoc committee was formed with following names and posts.

1. President - Mr Jai Narayan Yadav ( Daragoan )
2. Working President - Mr. Bijay Gupta ( Namchi )
3. Vice president - Mr. Usman Hussain ( pakyong)
4. Vice president - Mr. Anil Thakur ( Namchi )
5. General Secretary -Mr. Anand Prasad ( Ranipool )
6. Joint Secretary -Mr. Ganesh Poddar ( Deorali)
7. Publicity Secretary - Mr. Akbar Ali ( Bye Pass )
8. Treasurer - Mr. Ashok Gupta ( Gangtok )

Bihari community living from ages in Sikkim realized that there was a need for one social organisation which can work for upliftment & development of weaker section of the society as well as to form a bridge towards unity and brotherhood between all other sections of society and community residing in Sikkim.
There was one more organisation of Bihari community named Sikkim Bihari Jagran Manch which was formed 19 years ago to work for development of society but has completely failed to discharge there duties and responsibilities. The SBJM is being led by one person since nineteen years alongwith few peoples who are vested and self centered and nothing has been done by them till date. To be President and executive members they use all the wrong means and due to which dispute is going on between them and they are busy fighting amongst themselves and the matter has reached to Hon’ble Court. 
Therefore a new organisation with educated, young and energetic people has come forward to work for mass. Today meeting was witnessed by huge number of gathering and flocking from all parts of Sikkim.
( source:Voice of Sikkim)