CM Speaks:-
Intro: The seventh phase of the State Green Mission commenced officially from the premises of Dentam Senior Secondary School on the 15th of June, 2012. Dentam Senior Secondary has been recently awarded as a Green School at the national level. The Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling, was the chief guest for the programme. His speech is reproduced below:
I am here to place my views in front of you all. We have not had our lunch yet. Let’s have some food for thought today. There is an acute dearth of mental contemplation in Sikkim. Let’s look at ways to address this problem. I want you to understand what I am going to say without any prejudice.
Today I am going to focus more on students. I am going to talk on the aims, dreams, environment and responsibilities. Religious teachers and science have different theories about the origin of the earth. Some scientists advocate the Big Bang Theory while Darwin proposed the Theory of Evolution. We are regarded as children of Adam and Eve while some consider humans to be the off springs of Manu and Satrupa. But we must accept the fact that we live on earth. The earth is our mutual home. Sikkim is situated in one corner of the earth. Whatever happens on earth has both direct and indirect impact on us as well.
We all talk about global warming. But nobody makes any effort to understand the reasons for global warming. The Vice-President of America, Al Gore received the Nobel Prize for his work on global warming. He received the Nobel Prize for having for his efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"
We cannot expect only two or three people to work miracles to counter global warming. The efforts of all seven billion people on earth are required to save the earth from the ill-effects of global warming. We must live in unison with the environment. It is only then that we can save the earth.
We started Green Mission as a baby step towards conservation of the environment. We declared 1996 as the Green Revolution Year. We gradually took this programme to the people. But there was a lot of opposition from the people. When we banned grazing in forests, irresponsible politicians instigated the people and herders even formed associations! People protested against such environment-friendly initiatives. But people gradually understood and accepted it. Today, masses have become more conscious about the environment than people in the Government.
After that we started the Green Mission. Today is the launch of the seventh phase. This initiative that we have taken will find a place in history. Man will have to live in harmony with Nature. May be Sikkim will provide inspiration for love of the environment. I found Los Angeles city barren and dull. May be it is because of the season. We humans are an inseparable part of Nature so we like to live in harmony with Nature and live in flow of Nature. When this flow breaks, then people become monotonous like the monotony that is caused by the same season throughout the year.
We have four seasons. Spring is lively while winter is dull. But it is different in Los Angeles. We are interdependent and interrelated in Nature. We are living on earth because of the sun, water and air. I love trees. We give carbon dioxide to them. They give us oxygen. If we harm the environment, we will also suffer. We launched Ten Minutes to Earth programme to spread the message of living in harmony with nature. This is our pavitra kranti. In the past there were tree huggers in India. We should not sacrifice our age old principles. If we do this, our civilisation will come under threat. We must retain and protect our identity. We have a wonderful tradition of revering our elders.
Sikkim perhaps is the first State in the world to ban grazing and killing of wild animals. We banned the use of non-biodegradable materials. We banned the felling of trees. We started the concept of Smriti Van. We all must keep our premises clean, whether it is our houses, offices or schools. This way the whole of Sikkim will become clean. Nowadays, we look for safaikarmacharis to clean our houses. This is an irony. Sikkim is ours. We must take its responsibility. There has been a demand for a peon for this school. Keeping peons is a trend in third world countries. We must do our work by ourselves if we want to make Sikkim better and richer. We have started Green Fund. We have done this to make people responsible. We want a scientific mind to develop in Sikkim. You are the owner of this earth and you must protect it as well. We are the pioneers in many green initiatives. I have bagged the Greenest Chief Minister Award. Sikkim has been rated as the ‘most sustainable State.’ You all deserve congratulations for this. This is development. Anything that brings name and fame for Sikkim is development.
This world runs on knowledge and science. We have started organic farming. This is an environment-friendly activity. Organic farming is pavitra kranti for us. A floriculturist can teach about flowers but he cannot say for whom the flower blossoms. Does a flower blossom for itself? Flowers follow the law of nature. Bees come and pollination occurs. We pluck flowers thinking that they blossom for us. Every creature in this world has its own purpose. I agree with what Einstein has said. Einstein has said that there is infinite power in nature. Scientists can make flowers out of flowers but they cannot make a different kind of flower. We have to live in harmony with nature.
There has been an increase in the forest cover of Sikkim in 1994, it was 44.2 percent and now it has increased to 59 percent. This kind of increase has not happened anywhere in the world! I am a responsible Chief Minister. I work for both the present and future of Sikkim. Our society must be debatable. I want to tell the teachers and students to know us through the work we have done. And please work responsibly.
I came across two students who were selling totola flowers. I was startled to see this! We are giving all kinds of support to the people since the last 18 years! Where are the resources going? Why are people still in pitiable condition in villages? In the first Assembly session in 1994, we had announced that 70 percent of the budget would be spent for rural development. Other States in our country does not have such a policy. In accordance with this policy, 70 percent of the budget has to come to the villages no matter what.
Injustice is injustice, whoever does it. We must protest. There are some people in villages who deprive the masses of development. We must not be hypocrites. Outer beauty and inner beauty should go hand in hand. A person who can speak the truth is great! He Who Knows Himself Can Alone Speak the Truth!
Buddha became God. We don’t ask for his Sikkim Subject. Nobody says that Tenzing Sherpa was a citizen of Nepal. But people say that his children are from Nepal. Apart from Lord Buddha, his children are considered to be from Nepal. A successful person is a global citizen. That is why we must acquire the ability to become global citizens.
I will fulfil all the demands that have come to me from the school. This is the third generation of educated lot in Sikkim. When we formed the Government, the literacy rate of Sikkim was 57 percent. Today it has increased to 86 percent. You must be able to give continuity to the work that we have started in Sikkim. You must take things to a logical conclusion. The per capita debt in our country as of now is Rs. 33,000. America is the country that takes the highest amount of loan. The per capita debt on every American is $ 55,000. This is the state of affairs in the world. But Sikkim is doing well. The per capita income in Sikkim is Rs. one lakh. When we came to power, the per capita income was Rs. 9,000.
The rate of development has trebled since the Second World War. But there has not been proportionate increase in our happiness. Material development alone does not provide happiness. A man becomes happy only when he becomes responsible. But our people do not become sad when Sikkim becomes spoilt or when Sikkim becomes better. The Government provides free education. Health and education are very expensive in America. But people are becoming educated and knowledgeable. But it is an irony that students here do not study well despite getting education for free. We have so many schools and colleges.
Dentam School has fared well in the Board examinations. I congratulate the teachers, students and everyone for this feat. We are starting a new degree college in Gangtok. Sacrifice is a prerequisite for success. It is difficult but not impossible to become successful. We must take life as a challenge and not as a liability. You are born with a lot of potentials. You can become Einstein. You can become Pawan Chamling. I am successful but I try to be a good human being. Ravan and Hitler were successful but they were not good human beings. Ram, Buddha, Jesus, Abraham Lincoln were good human beings. The philosophy of Abraham Lincoln is held in high regard even today. He gave the idea that rule should be by, for and of the people.
Politics is an intellectual competition to determine which competitor can run the society, State and country in the best possible manner. Politics is guiding those who are lost. Students must understand politics. Our students must be like Grace Bedell. America is what it is today because of students like Grace Bedell. Sikkim must also become like America. Students must keep an eye on politics and politicians. They should not stay away from politics saying “politics is a dirty game.” The quality of politics in Sikkim has improved and we are enjoying democratic dividends.
Students also have a responsibility to ensure that Sikkim is not spoilt. You see Nepal and Darjeeling. These places have not developed because the leaders are irresponsible. We work in coordination with Delhi. We have not switched parties or flags. We engage in responsible politics.
I am a living history. I am the person who shouted “we want democracy” in Singtam on 5th April, 1976. All three communities had reservation in the Sikkim State Council before Sikkim merged with India. After the merger, in 1978, Bhutia-Lepcha communities were given recognition and seat reservation. The rest became General. Four communities got Scheduled Castes statues. After we formed the Government, we accorded OBC status to all the left out communities. We gave Tribal status to Limbu-Tamang communities. But they are yet to get Tribal seat reservation because there is no reservation of Tribal seat in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. There are twelve seats for Bhutia-Lepcha communities. They have special protection. We have constantly demanded seat reservation for Limbu-Tamang communities in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. We have also demanded Income Tax exemption for the old businessmen of Sikkim. We must have the feeling that we are Sikkimese and we are Indians.
Development, wealth, knowledge, wisdom, everything is for man. Life is the most precious asset in this world. Knowledge, religion, law, rules, politics are for humans and not vice versa. But we are misusing a lot of things in this world. You must first confirm things before you believe in them. There is no alternative to education to alleviate poverty. Education gives knowledge and knowledge gives power.
There is a lot of competition in the world. You don’t get jobs easily. You must become your own masters. The Government has created a lot of opportunities and people need to avail of them. We are opening SRM University in Sikkim. Tenzing Hillary Park is coming up in this place. A road is being connected to Nepal. Tourism will flourish here. We must make Sikkim a State of clean professions. To earn a livelihood by working hard is a clean profession. The airport will be ready by 2013. A skywalk is coming up in West Sikkim. This will enhance the image of Sikkim.
People are welcome to do politics and float new political parties but they are not allowed to mislead the people. They must be able to provide alternative solutions to the problems of the people.
We have opened Agriculture College, Pharmacy College and NIT. We will open model schools in every district. We will conduct aptitude test for students from next year. We will make health check up for students mandatory. Please run the Literacy campaign in schools properly.
The world is going from bad to worse. We must keep Sikkim pure. Today, around 30 percent of children in the world are born out of wedlock. Barrack Obama has endorsed gay and lesbian marriages. A leader must work to save mankind. Politics is the job of giving happiness, peace and security to the people. This is science and this is the truth.
Students must think how their homes and villages should be like. The Greeks thought 25 thousand years ago about how their country should be. Greece is considered to be the Mecca of knowledge. Plato was born in Greece. He has said that a leader should be philosophical. We become what we think. Winston Churchill had once said “never, never, never give up.” I have not politicised students. students must not jeopardise their career and studies by joining political associations. You must keep your studies untouched by such things.
I have a lot of respect for teachers. But I request you to be responsible. Please be exemplary. You can ask for my help whenever you are in trouble. I am for you.
The Plan budget of Sikkim is just Rs. 1700 crore out of which Rs. 247 crore is spent on pension, Rs. 13,00 crore on salaries, Rs. 100 crore on fuel and travelling allowance of employees. The total expenditure is around Rs. 1347 crore. Government employees must understand this and make more contribution to the development of Sikkim. If the people of Sikkim don’t understand, then a day might come when we will not have money to pay salaries. Some people talk about change. But change has to be for the better. Reactionaries don’t let us work for the people. They create hurdles for us at every step. But sadly people do not speak up.
If a person is poor at heart, he cannot do anything. A leader must be honest. I request all Government officials to spend every rupee for the work of the people. We started the Co-operative movement to help the poor. Natural calamity work should be done properly. Our work should be qualitative. Our teachers, engineers, students, leaders, opposition parties and everyone must be like that of Switzerland. We have made the action plan for tomorrow and people must make it successful.
We have done a lot for the policemen. We have made a provision to make them ASIs and upgrade them. Police must be for the people. You should not be caste or religion police. We will do the same for Forest and Excise Departments. A leader must experience the life of everyone. That is sensitivity. That is pavitra kranti. All of us must come together to save our society from afflictions like drugs, AIDS, MDR etc.
Thank you!
