17th day of Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling's Village to Village Tour

Gangtok: 19th June: After a brief break in between the second phase of West district tour and the 17th day, Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling resumed his village to village tour starting from Tharpu Secondary School in West Sikkim on Saturday, June 18.
“I want a system to be developed in democracy where the people are the supreme rulers and the government is the servant of the people. This is my vision of practical democracy”. This was said by Chief Minister at a public gathering organised at Sombaria Secondary School on the day. The people have to be empowered to reach to that stage, he added.

The government has adopted every ways and means to empower the people and decentralise the power to the rural areas. The government will further decentralise the power and set up branches of the government departments to the village along with funds, function and functionaries which are the essence of decentralizartion, he said. But at the same time the Chief Minister underlined that the government alone cannot fulfill all the needs, aspirations and requirements of the people. In this 18th year of its governance the government has provided basic minimum needs to the people and now it is the people’s turn, he noted.

Talking about the aim and objective behind such a programme of the government the Chief Minister while talking to the students said that the tour is intended “to build Sikkim’s tomorrow”. The students are the future of tomorrow and if the future of the students is shaped in proper way then my mission will be successful, he added.
Mentioning the demands placed by the people the Chief Minister directed the concerned departments to find ways and means and take immediate action to complete the long pending project of Stairway to Heaven at Daramdin. On the demand of Toy Train at Daramdin he said that tourism is the priority sector of the state government and if the people are serious in this field the government will see the feasibility of the project and go for it.

Dr. Chamling also directed the Public Works Department (Roads and Bridges) to immediately take up the demand for the link road to Sombaria School and complete the link road within one hundred days. He also sanctioned the demand of beautification of Sombaria Bazar. On the demand of the Shopping complex at Sombaria Bazar the Chief Minister advised the people to come forward to construct the shopping complex by themselves. The people will be the owner of the complex in true sense if they construct it themselves, he said.

During the day long tour the Chief Minister met and addressed the people at Tharpu Sec. School, Kripasalyan Sec. School, Daramdin, Salangdang village under Lungchok Salangdang GPU, Sombaria Sr. Sec. School, Sherpa Cultural House under Okhrey GPU, Ribdi Sec. School and Peureytar.

(With IPR input)