Discussions completed annual Budget of Rs. 5,277.10 crore passed in the Assembly

MEDIA REPORTS ON GOLAY COME UNDER FIRE
GANGTOK, 28 June: The annual budget of Rs. 5,277.10 crore comprising of Rs. 2,540.23 crore under Plan and of Rs. 2,736.87 crore under Non Plan accounts for 2012-13 was passed by the Sikkim Legislative Assembly here today. Chief Minister and Minister-in-Charge of Finance, Revenue and Expenditure Department had tabled the budget on the floor of the House on 26 June.
Besides this, the House also unanimously passed separate Demands for Grants for Animals Husbandry, Livestock, Fisheries and Veterinary Services and Irrigation and Flood Control departments under the Charge of Minister, Dawcho Lepcha.
The separate Demands for Grants for Tourism, Forest, Environment and Wildlife department, Mines, Minerals and Geology and Science and Technology departments under the charge of Minister Bhim Dhungel were passed after a short discussion. Tulshi Devi Rai and Sonam Gyatso Bhutia participated in the discussion and demanded that the problems and developmental aspirations of their respective constituencies be taken up on priority basis.
Meanwhile, the separate Demands for Grants for Department of Building and Housing department was passed without discussion.
While taking part in the discussion of Urban and Housing Development and Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department under the charge of Minister DB Thapa, Gangtok MLA Dorjee Namgyal re-iterated his demand for a proper system of recording addresses and house numbers in the Gangtok Municipal area and urged the Leader of the House and government to consider the establishment of the film industry in Sikkim by providing relaxations on entertainment tax.
Minister DB Thapa in his reply informed the House that numbering and proper addressing of households in GMC area is being undertaken by the GMC and that it will take some time to finalize the model for household numbering.
On the issue of Morf discotheque at Adampool [into which Upper Burtuk MLA PST Tamang had demanded an enquiry since it shouldered a school], the Minister informed the House that the establishment was operating on a provisional licence for one year and that when the licence expires on 11 July, the department will not renew it. He admitted that the discotheque was situated within 100 meters of a school compound.
He, however, denied that any complaints from the local public or school management committee were received by the UD&HD or HRDD.
The Demand for Grants for the department under the charge of the Chief Minister was also passed by the house.
The focus of deliberations also fell on the state’s media as Salghari-Zoom MLA Madan Cintury demanded that a motion of breach of privilege be moved against media reports on dissident MLA Prem Singh Goley’s statements.
Similarly, Mangan-Lachen MLA Tshering Wangdi Lepcha contended that it was media pandering which had inspired the ‘unruly behaviour’ of the Upper Burtuk MLA and urged the house to impose restrictions on the media.
While commenting on the points raised by the members in the House, the Chief Minister endorsed the demand to move a motion of breach of privilege against the media and appropriate action as per the rules of the House.
Mentioning that there have been too many instances of misuse of democratic institutions in Sikkim, the CM argued that allowing such abuse to continue unchecked would compromise democracy and the Constitution. He left it to the Speaker of the house to take action on the matter since the breach of privilege motion is the Speakers’ prerogative.
He also urged members to maintain decorum in the House and alerted them to be responsible to the State and the people and further asked them to respect the people’s mandate. On Mr. Tamang’s conduct through the Budget Session, he said that the MLA had gone out of line with his actions which were not in accordance with the business of the House and supported the Speaker’s ruling suspending him for the day as being in line with the rules for conduct of the house.
The CM highlighted that even those who choose to oppose are bound by the rules of the House and bound by the Constitution to respect them. The Upper Burtuk MLA’s actions were “against the interests of the people, law and proceedings”, stated the CM.
Besides this, the SLA today also passed the Appropriation Bill moved by the Chief Minister.

Sikkim annual plan fixed at Rs. 1,500 crore

MONTEK SINGH COMMENDS STATE GOVT’S DEVELOPMENTAL EFFORTS
GANGTOK, 13 April: Sikkim’s annual plan for the year 2012-13 was fixed at Rs. 1,500 crore today, informs a press communiqué received from the Principal Resident Commissioner, Sikkim House, New Delhi. The plan size was finalised at a meeting between Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, held at Yojana Bhawan. The Plan size grows up to Rs. 1,877 crore with the addition of Rs. 377 crore which the Planning Commission informed today it would be releasing for Sikkim from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund [against the total announcement of Rs. 1,000 crore] to assist earthquake restoration works here. The Chief Minister informed the meeting that the entire Rs. 1,000 crore package announced by the Prime Minister for undertaking various earthquake repair activities will be utilised in the state in next two years .
The Chief Minister, the press release from Delhi informs, highlighted that the plan size [not including the earthquake relief funds] is Rs. 100 crore higher than the current plan size.
Meanwhile, an update from the Press Information Bureau informs that in his comments on the performance of the State, the Deputy Chairman appreciated the “development efforts” and pointed that the human development indicators of Sikkim were among the best in the country. He said the growth in agriculture during eleventh plan was better than the national average and also made positive mention of the priority being given to organic farming, horticulture and floriculture.
As per Planning Commission data, Sikkim has achieved a growth rate of 8.95% during the 11th plan which is higher than national average.
On plan performance, it was pointed that the GSDP at Constant Prices rose from Rs. 1,73,932 in 2004-05 to Rs. 3,34,311 in 2009-10 and was likely to increase to Rs. 3,64,218 in 2010-11 showing an annual growth of 8.95 percent. Likewise the Per Capita GSDP at constant prices rose from Rs. 30,730 in 2004-05 to Rs. 55,441 in 2009-10 and likely to increase to the level of Rs. 59,806 in 2010-11 showing an annual growth of 7.87 percent.
Mr. Ahluwalia, during the plan finalisation deliberations, also commented that tourism being the largest service sector in Sikkim, had high growth potential and has attained the top priority sector due to its vast spinoff effects contributing to the overall development through sustained fiscal receipts and employment generation.
“Sikkim endowed with unparalleled natural beauty, clean environment and picturesque location is one of the most potential State for tourism sector to flourish. In Sikkim, tourism has attained a consistent growth. The proactive tourism vision of the State Government, insurgency free environment and friendly people has been one of the major factors in upsurge of tourism in the state,” the PIB release quotes the Deputy Chairman as commenting.
Mr. Ahluwalia, also recognised that the general trends in rural development over the last two decades indicated that human development indicators like literacy, life expectancy, infant mortality, access to health, sanitation and rural infrastructure like roads, bridges, electricity, water, toilets, houses, school, hospitals, telecommunication etc. has been increasingly universalized. However, there was a declining trend in terms of relative contribution of agricultural sector to the economy and also as an employer, he pointed out.
Briefing the Commission, the Chief Minister is reported to have detailed that over the past two decades, the State has adopted the path of sustainable development, working in pursuit of developing the rural areas at par with the towns by providing all basic and modern amenities and sustainable employment opportunities in rural areas. The aim, he said, was to develop Sikkim as an “eco-city State”.
He also highlighted that the September 2011 earthquake had caused extensive damage to the infrastructure and setback the development process here. The developmental programmes, he stressed, can only be successful with liberal financial assistance from the Government of India in the 12th Five Year Plan and particularly in the Annual Plan 2012-13.
On the various schemes launched in recent years by the State, the CM highlighted the CM’s Free Scholarship programme under which the state was offering full scholarship to Sikkim students enrolled in the top-20 international universities of the world. On similar lines, Sikkim has launched a unique scheme called the Chief Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme under which students enrolled in government schools in rural Sikkim, upon selection on merit, were being funded to study at prestigious public and convent schools like Scindia School, Springdales School [Dehradun] and Pinegrove School [HP] etc. A budget of around Rs. 7 crore has been provided in current financial year and target has been fixed to sponsor 1,000 Sikkim students to reputed schools in the country by the year.
Detailing the various initiatives undertaken by the State Government like the CATCH programme and the Mission Kutcha House Free Sikkim, the CM briefed the Commission that State was confident of generating an annual revenue of Rs. 1,500 crore from the hydel sector in three years time. Tourism too was receiving special focus in the State and showing good results with 10 lakh tourists having visited Sikkim in 2011, having doubled from the 4.9 lakh visitors recorded in 2006. The target now is to attract 5 million tourist by the year 2015, the CM said, stressing that this would happen with better planning , aggressive publicity and world class tourism infrastructure.