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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Secure development by claiming ownership, CM urges

NEW LAWS SOON TO PUNISH DRUG PEDDLING MORE SEVERELY, IMPOSE BAN ON SALE OF ALCOHOL TO UNDER-18 YEAR OLDS MORE STRICTLY AND TO REMOVE PERSONAL-INTEREST OBSTACLES DELAYING DEVELOPMENTAL WORKS
PAKYONG, 19 July: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling urged people of the State to inculcate a stronger sense of belonging and internalise a sense of ownership towards the state and its projects and schemes. Such an attitude, he stressed, would ensure that development was more uniformly dispensed and quality delivery ensured. It will also bring around improved involvement and thus assure the people’s position as the masters of the government, he stressed.
Through his 27th day of village-to-village tour of the State, the CM interacted with people of Rhenock constituency at get-togethers hosted at Dugalakha Junior High School, Mamring Secondary School and Dikling Senior Secondary School. The persistent drizzle did little to dampen spirits as the CM spent a majority of his time at these venues among the people, interacting with them and collecting their grievances and demands. 

In a major announcement, he informed the people of plans to bring in a set of three new laws to confront social and developmental challenges. These laws, dealing with substance abuse, underage drinking and what he explained as stalling of development to serve personal and anti-people interests, will be tabled in monsoon session of Legislative Assembly called for 11 and 12 August, he said.
Recognising substance abuse as a continuing menace, the CM said that stricter punishment of imprisonment of up to 10 years will be mooted for peddlers who push addiction on the youth. Next, the laws banning sale of alcohol to people under 18 years of age will be reinforced to attract imprisonment of up to 5 years for those who ignore the law and sell alcoholic beverages to minors.
The third law being framed will provide for removing obstacles created to serve personal and selfish interests at the cost of public good. There have been many instances, he contended, when government schemes have been delayed and hampered by petty issues serving personal interests. If this continues developmental works cannot progress, he said, adding that in order to combat this “problem”, a strict law will be framed.
The CM invited the people to study and comment on these proposed policy interventions. “Support them if you believe they are good, criticise them if you find them wanting, but make the effort to inform yourselves about the issues and voice your opinion,” he appealed.
Speaking at his first halt of the day at Dugalakha JHS, he mentioned that anti-social elements and people pursuing selfish interests have been trying to mislead people and divide them on communal lines. Cautioning the people against falling for such ploys, he stressed that such ideologies and arguments fomented paranoia and vitiated the congenial environment of the State.
Continuing with his appeal to the people to speak up more strongly and more often, he urged them to stop tolerating corruption and inconsistency in government offices.
At his next halt at Mamring SSS, the CM interacted extensively with the students and encouraged them to break from the norm and grow into citizens who kept themselves informed and did not shirk from delivering on their responsibilities.
He also detailed the various schemes and projects aimed specifically for the benefit of students and urged them to focus on their studies and seize every opportunity for improved learning that the State has instituted for them.
Responding to demands placed at Dikling SSS, the CM directed the HRD Department to expedite a permanent solution for the 165 computer teachers contracted to teach computer science at schools across the State and regularize their services. He further directed the Department to also look into persistent complaints from schools that the computers supplied to them are no longer in working condition.
On the complaint that the airport project was not employing locals even on C and D grades, the CM assured to follow up the demand from his office. While pointing out that the airport project was important for Sikkim, he added that if units engaged in its construction were not being forthcoming in their support for the local community, the people should raise their demands at all advisable forums even as he worked on getting their demands met. It was also important for people to present a united front when they pursue such demands, he added.


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