Govt requests ED to release endowment fund from EIILM’s frozen bank accounts

Plan is to conduct stalled examinations and then arrange for transfer of students to other institutes

The Higher Education Directorate of the Human Resource Development Department has requested the Enforcement Directorate to release “endowment fund” from the Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management [EIILM] bank accounts to allow for the proper conduction of stalled examinations and easing other complications afflicting the students at the university’s Malbasey, West Sikkim, campus.
The ED, it may be recalled, has frozen all bank accounts of EIILM university, and attached all its properties [except the campus in Sikkim] pending investigations of money laundering. Following this, EIILM had suspended classes at the campus last year and students there have been on dharna demanding resolution for two months now. The University management has even demanded that the State Government take over the university, an option that the government is not keen on. Authorities at the HRDD are however at work to ensure that the future of the around 200 students enrolled at EIILM-Sikkim is not jeopardized.

Transferred teachers will surrender voter cards if fresh deadline also ignored: STA

GANGTOK, 09 Jan: Sikkim Teachers' Association has given a new deadline to the State government to roll back the recent transfer of teachers failing which the transferred teachers would surrender their voter cards and stay away from any election held in the State until their retirement. The teachers have asked the state government to roll back the transfer of 1063 teachers by 17 January otherwise they will surrender their voter cards to the State Election Commission starting from 19 January and not cast their votes in any of the elections to come until their demands are met.
This was decided in a meeting held today after the earlier deadline given to the state government lapsed on 08 January and the subsequent meeting with the HRD Secretary did not bear any fruit.

PROTEST, LATHICHARGE, CLASH, LATHICHARGE AGAIN

New session begins tense for college students
SAGAR CHHETRI
GANGTOK, 14 July: It took two lathicharges, several bruised egos & bodies and a nearly three-hour long confrontation to break the deadlock which had set in at Tadong this evening after a group of adamant college students clashed with an over-eager Sikkim Police force. Better diplomacy might have rescued the situation from collapsing into the disturbing anarchy that was on display on the highway, because irrespective of which way on looks at it, everyone who was on the spot came away convinced that had the police deployed more tact the day would not have ended in violence.
But that was not be as the protesting students marched down to Sikkim Government College, Tadong, after an inconclusive meeting with HRDD officials. Their numbers had dwindled substantially from the group that had marched up earlier in the morning. The students were however raising slogans through their rally back to college and when they reached the gates, the sat on the road in protest and held up traffic.
Police personnel on duty at the spot were trying to talk the students into entering their campus and allowing traffic to ply on the national highway. The students remained adamant on continuing with their protest and the confrontation got stuck in its first deadlock.
However, soon after the SP [East] Manoj Tewari arrived at the spot, the police launched a lathicharge to drive the students away. The students dispersed initially, but fought back in strength with stones and bricks and forced the cops to retreat. This was at around 5:15 p.m.
The situation had no collapsed into a free for all as the students lobbed projectile at the cops and pulled railings and signboards on to the road blocking it.
The cops pulled back and the students had a free run of the stretch from Tadong Police Outpost to the College Gate. Both, students as well as police personnel, including reportedly the SP, were injured.
It was now a stare-down. Traffic was stalled. While most people walked across the trouble zone, the worst affected were students returning from school who were stuck on either side of the area.
Soon, the DC AK Singh and other district officials and even the area MLA Timothy Basnet and Arithang MLA Shyam Pradhan also arrived at the spot and tried to mediate with the students. They, however, were refusing to listen to anyone and were demanding action against the SP before calling off their blockade. Like is seen so often in Sikkim, the issue had moved on into another tangent and become even more vexed.
The next collapse occurred just as it started getting dark and the sequence of events here is slightly confused.
What is clear is that a bus speeding up from Ranipool with IRBn personnel to the ‘venue’ was stoned by the students. The stoning was severe and all window panes smashed.
Soon, the second lathicharge of the evening was underway, and this time the police were offering no quarters. The cops dispersed the students and chased them into alleys and buildings. Some stones still flew into the road from behind buildings.
After the students dispersed, the police and district officials were picketed by lay people who challenged the police decision to lathicharge students and alleged that the SP had been over-aggressive. They were demanding action. DIG [Range], Dr. MS Tuli, managed to calm down the people who were protesting against the police action, and soon the situation was normalized and the highway finally cleared for traffic.
Later, speaking to media-persons, the DIG said that a case will be filed at Sadar Thana and investigation will follow. He had arrived at the spot after the lathicharge, but, as he assured the guardians earlier, he informed the press briefing that an independent enquiry will be carried out on the allegations being leveled by the students as well.
The East District Magistrate AK Singh also informed that a Magisterial probe will be ordered into the allegations of students.
Meanwhile, sources at STNM Hospital and at CRH informed that 13 students were brought in with minor injuries as was one IRBn jawan.

NASBO also condemns repeal of Sikkim’s company act

GANGTOK, 20 Oct: National Sikkimese Bhutia Organization has joined the chorus of protest against the repeal of the Registration of Companies [Sikkim] Act 1961, an Old Law, with the extension of the Companies Act 2013 all over the country recently.
A press release issued by NASBO president Sonam Lama Kaloen recently sees the latest development as “another blatant act on the part of the Indian government and the present SDF government of Sikkim” to “completely do away with the 36th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975”.
Arguing that the said intent was now clear, the organisation has rubbed in its condemnation by demanding that the issue be President of India issue an Ordinance “straightly doing away” with the 36th Constitutional Amendment Act which gives Sikkim its special status.
The organization has condemned the Govt of India’s “design and act” and what it sees as the Chief Minister’s “reluctant approach and attitude in preserving Sikkim’s ever fading unique identity within the Indian Union”. Like other organizations and parties in the Opposition, NASBO has also demanded the resignation of Sikkim’s two MPs.

Denzong Welfare Assc protests Companies Act 2013

GANGTOK, 20 Oct: Denzong Welfare Association, Gangtok, convened a meeting on Saturday at its head office in Development Area to discuss the repeal of Registration of Companies (Sikkim) Act, 1961 by the Companies Act, 2013 of the Union Government of India. The association has resolved to protest this move, and apart from extending support for the stand taken by Rajya Sabha MP Hissey Lachungpa in the Rajya Sabha, thumbed down Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot’s failure in taking Sikkim into confidence as promised before notifying the new Act.
A DWA press release issued by its president Phurba Sherpa informs that the Saturday meeting concluded that the Companies Act, 2013 was not beneficial for the Sikkimese people and hence decided to protest the repeal of Registration of Companies (Sikkim) Act, 1961.
The Bill, it may recalled was passed without discussion in the Lok Sabha, having been tabled and passed through what is now routine pandemonium in the House and DWA, like SKM has not taken lightly to the Lok Sabha MP Sikkim not having spoken on the matter and has demanded his resignation on moral grounds.
The opposition recorded by Rajya Sabha MP Hissey Lachungpa has been welcomed and supported by DWA. It has also rued the failure of Corporate Affairs Minister to hold consultations, as promised, with the State Government before the Act was notified.

Poultry ban conditions confound even more

GANGTOK, 26 Sept: Even as the ban on entry of poultry products into the State continues without any substantial reason, the nature of this ban imposed by the Animal Husbandry Department attracts attention as being prejudiced and discriminatory. This for the simple reason that, as per the notification of the department issued way back on 22 April, 2010, the ban is for everybody except two organizations.
As per this notification, no individual, cooperative society or business enterprise is allowed to bring in poultry or poultry products, including day old chicks, into Sikkim except two organizations. The two organizations exempted from the ban are Denzong Agriculture Cooperative Society and Sikkim Hatcheries. The illogicality is obvious and the discriminatory nature being alleged clear. In fact several small traders and those affected by this ‘ban’ also call it unconstitutional.
Small businessmen question how poultry products brought in by the two agencies are immune from bird flu, the reason why the ban was imposed, while those brought in by others infected. It is not simply a matter of designated poultry farms in Siliguri from where one can purchase the eggs or chicks as others too can be directed to get the products from these places.
The crux of the matter is that there is no bird flu at all!
This leaves the two agencies with a monopoly in the trade of poultry products in the state at the cost of other small and big traders. In this context it may also be asked of the authorities as to how this ban is beneficial or in the interest of the lay people of Sikkim?
As some of the traders ask: “It is not understood to our simple mind how the bird flu will enter the state if the poultry products are imported by traders and how it will not enter the state when it is imported by public sector undertakings such as Denzong cooperatives and the Sikkim Hatcheries?”
In another interesting and perplexing aspect of the ban, even dressed chicken is banned from being imported into the state. This ban is apparently on the very ill informed belief prevailing among the authorities that dressed chicken could be an agent to bring in bird flu. Firstly the country is bird flu free. Secondly dressed chicken cannot be a carrier of the virus simply because the virus is easily inactivated by heat, as experts on the subject inform, and by the same logic one also does not get the virus from thoroughly cooked chicken meat. In fact there are absolutely no reported cases of bird flu in humans after handling dressed chicken.
It will be in the interest of Sikkim, especially the poorer sections who have decided to take up poultry as a business option, that the authorities lift this ill informed ban and stopped playing into the hands of vested interests.

Kamrang protests police action against their football team manager, demand apology from SP

NAMCHI, 17 Aug: The final match of the Independence Day Football tournament played here on Wednesday was keenly contested, so keenly contested that a refereeing decision challenged by one of the teams was so hotly challenged that the police had to intervene and whisk away the manager of the team from the field before play could resume. And the matter is still not resolved with a section of the people from Kamrang below Namchi now demanding that the SP [South] apologise to the Kamrang FC team manager or face a joint protest by the “youth” of Kamrang and Namchi. Kamrang FC lost the match 4-3 but refused to collect the runners-up trophy or their cash-prize in protest.
The incident in question transpired when the Kamrang FC manager, Nayan Rai, protested what he saw as the linesman’s failure to call an out ball and the play ended in a goal by the Legship team which eventually lifted the winner’s trophy. Before that, however, immediately after the goal [which stretched the lead to 4-2 at the time] was scored, the Kamrang manager was on the field hotly protesting the lapse by the referees. A heated exchange followed and the game was held up until the police entered the field and broke up the melee. During this intervention, the SP is alleged to have also slapped the Kamrang FC manager.
The Kamrang team managed to pull back one goal before the match ended and lost 4-3 and then registered its protest by refusing to participate in the prize distribution ceremony demanding that the SP apologise first.
When contacted, SP [South] Manoj Tewari argued that no one can be allowed to take law into their own hands and contested that his action on the ground on Thursday was to prevent an untoward incident. He further countered that the Kamrang FC Manager was instigating a situation on the ground that day and that this is proven by the fact that after he was removed from the ground, the match continued smoothly. The Kamrang team manager was taken to the Namchi Police Station and released after the match.
A section of the people of Kamrang are not convinced of this argument, and addressing media persons here today protested what they insist was misconduct and excessive use of force by the SP. They believe that the team manager was within his rights to protest the line call and reiterated that if the SP did not apologise, the youth of Kamrang and Namchi would join hands to protest against the SP.

Journos protest ‘obstruction’ by security personnel

GANGTOK, 28 June: Journalists have come out strongly against the manner in which members covering the Budget Session proceedings were not allowed to return to the secretariat premises after they had stepped out while the Assembly was in session to interview Upper Burtuk MLA PS Tamang after he was suspended from the day’s proceedings.
In a joint press release signed and issued by 37 working journalists, they have protested that manner in which security personnel disallowed them from re-entering the secretariat citing Breach of Security rules.
While referring to the episode as ‘suppressive’ and one that was intended at foiling the democratic freedom enjoyed by the Fourth Estate, the journalist fraternity has pointed that this episode had disrupted the flow of information of the Budget Session to the general masses.
The Journalists have also registered their concern over the manner in which the press and media were ‘targeted’ by various speakers during the proceedings of the Budget Session.

Protestors sit on silent dharna outside lecture venue to inform delegates of complaints against SU VC

GANGTOK, 08 April: Ever since a section of the faculty went public with their allegations of irregularities in how the Sikkim University vice chancellor managed the recruitment process, protests against the VC have become more public and have started coming more often. In the latest instance, the groups protesting the VC’s handling of Sikkim University affairs, sat on a silent dharna outside Chintan Bhawan, holding up banners highlighting their points of protest and handing out pamphlets explaining these in more detail for anyone interested. Inside, the Sikkim University was holding its 3rd Spring Lecture programme and a book discussion session.
The protestors represented the joint committee formed by the Sikkim University Development Committee of Yangang, Tumin- Lingzey Youth Association, Rabongla Aastha Samaj, Students Union of Sikkim and Sikkim Sachet Berojgar Swarojgar Sangathan which have been consistently protesting against the VC for the past couple of weeks.
The focus of their protest was the group’s feeling of disenchantment with the university’s admission policy [which, they insist does not incorporate adequate presence of local students], the high fee structure, refusal to allow student unions or representative bodies to be formed among others.
“We are not trying to hamper the programme inside, but are just trying to inform the delegates, through our presence, of how things are not as rosy at SU as they would be told inside,” a member of the protesting group said.
Their demand for focus on local interests was not illegitimate, they contended, pointing out to a section in the SU Act which highlights that among the University’s main agendas would be “to educate and train manpower for the development of the State of Sikkim and to pay special attention to the improvement of the social and economic conditions and welfare of the people of that state, their intellectual, academic and cultural development”.
The protestors went on to point out that while the Admission Prospectus for 2012-23 mentions that “for the session 2012- 13, in addition to the intake capacity/ stipulated intake capacity another 25% of seats will be set aside for the foreign students in M Phil/ PhD programmes of Sikkim University”.
“If globally friendly policies can be adopted by the University then why the same can’t be extended to the students of Sikkim,” they question.
The university, under the VC, has not looked after the needs of students here and this, the protestors feel is revealed by the University’s refusal to grant permanent affiliation to any college in the State.
The University has not yet formed a College Development Council, they mention, explaining that such councils were necessary because they played an important role in the development of colleges and upliftment of education.

Jharkhand tribals flee GREF road project alleging ‘torture’

2 OUT OF 34 LABOURERS ESCAPE TO JHARKHAND, LODGE COMPLAINT THERE
GANGTOK, 04 April: Two Scheduled Tribe labourers from Jharkand who fled Sikkim recently, have complained to the police there that they were exploited and not paid for more than a month by their employer while engaged in road construction work here. The two hail from Dumka in Jharkhand and were part of a road-gang of 34 reportedly engaged by GREF on road works here. The Dumka Superintendent of Police, when contacted by NOW! confirmed the complaint which was first reported in a section of the national media.
The duo reportedly escaped from Sikkim on 12 March. As per media reports, a person by the name of “Hembrom” had been tasked [reportedly by GREF] to supply labourers for road construction projects here in Sikkim.
The two labourers who escaped - Dilip Murmu and Hopna Soren – have also claimed that they were denied their wages.
The escaped labourers have lodged a complaint with the Dumka SP, Hemant Toppo, to whom they have also alleged that they were “made to work at gunpoint and also thrashed by the contractor’s men”.
The escaped duo, both belonging to Bisriyam village in Dumka district, also reportedly handed over the copy of a letter apparently sent by General Reserve and Engineering Force (GREF) to Hembrom. However, the two could not even say where in Sikkim they were working. The SP has been requested to rescue the other labourers from the group still in Sikkim where, as per the escaped duo, they continue to suffer similar privations.
The letter does not bear the signature of any GREF official. However, it asks one Mukhtar Hembrom to supply 50 labourers to work under it in Sikkim.
Talking to NOW! over the phone, SP Dumka, Mr. Toppo confirmed that he had received such a complaint a few days ago.
“Yes we have received a complaint and are currently enquiring into it. We have also written to the company which had taken these labourers to respond to the allegations. If we do not receive a satisfactory answer from the company then we will lodge an FIR,” SP Toppo said.
He further stated that the two had managed to contact the other labourers who reported that they were alright.
“However, their location is still not known and we are trying to ascertain where they were engaged from the complainants,” the Dumka SP adds. Once the location is known the Sikkim Police will be contacted, he said.
It is reported that as many as 34 labourers, between 18 to 40 years of age, and natives of Raneswar block of the Dumka district in Jharkhand, were taken by one Mukhtar Hembrom of Dhebadih village in neighbouring Shikaripara to work in Sikkim in January where they started work on 28 January. One of the complainants, Dilip Murmu, has been quoted in media reports as informing that Hembrom had promised that GREF would pay them Rs. 17,000 each for three months of work, apart from free lodging and food.
He added that before escaping from Sikkim, the duo promised the rest of the labourers that they would return with enough money to bring them back to Dumka as well.
Sujan Soren, brother of a labourer in Sikkim, said, “The contractor, on learning about the escape of two labourers, took the rest of them to an unidentified location.” He further alleged that he received a phone call from his brother saying they were being continually tortured.
“We have collected sufficient money from the kin of the labourers, but we are clueless about how to ensure their safe release, as we have no idea of their whereabouts,” said Kandan Murmu, whose sons Sanatan and Shyamlal are in Sikkim.
The SP said he would investigate the matter and bring those guilty to book if there was any evidence of the local men being forced into bonded labour.
“According to a letter, GREF entrusted Mukhtar Hembrom with supplying 50 labourers from Dumka,” he said, adding the police would probe whether GREF was involved in any foul play.
DIG Range, Sikkim Police, Vineet Vinayak, when contacted, stated that he had not received any formal or informal complaint as yet but in the event that a complaint was made, he would definitely look into it.

GREF wants proof

GANGTOK, 04 April: After facing criticism over the shabby quality of works being carried out by the GREF in various locations in and around the State, Project Swastik is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons.
This time, it is a major complaint of human rights violation against labourers engaged in road projects under GREF.
When NOW! contacted the Joint Director, BRO, AK Das, who is also the spokesperson for Project Swastik stationed at the head office at Burtuk, he refuted the complaints and asked the reporter to bring in ‘proof’ and ‘documents’ to support these complaints.
“There are labourers working here in Sikkim from all over the country and keeping tab on all their problems is not our look-out. If there is a complaint made, please provide me with the complaint letters and the documents only after which I can speak on behalf of the Chief Engineer,” said Mr. Das
Mr. Das, who did not want to give an appointment to the press even though he is the spokesperson for the BRO here [this correspondent has been trying to contact him for more than a month related to various queries regarding the works being initiated by BRO here], stated, “I am presently ill and do not have any time to give time to any reporter and speaking on the phone is also a rare possibility. Bring in the proof and then I will see what needs to be answered,” he said.

SU picketed again

PROTESTORS AGITATED BY ISSUE OF APPOINTMENT LETTERS, UNIV PULLS BACK AND KEEPS ACCEPTANCE OF OFFERS IN ABEYANCE
GANGTOK, 29 March: There is an obvious communication gap between the Sikkim University management, the state authorities and the protest groups agitating against the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mahendra P. Lama. Of course, the protestors remain convinced that at the root of the continuing confrontation is the VC’s “refusal” to take them “seriously” and frequently resorting to “sly tactics” to bypass the protest and renege even on commitments made by University officials to the people.
Today’s confrontation erupted after the University started issuing appointment letters against interviews held on 16 March for teaching and non-teaching vacancies at the University. The groups protesting the recruitment process at the University had begun their protest with simultaneous gheraos of an interview [for non-executive vacancies] venue and management block on 23 March. The interviews were cancelled that day. However, the University went ahead with interviews called for the next day for system analysts and when even this was protested and picketed, the Registrar issued a notice announcing that all remaining interviews stand postponed.
The protestors since then have approached the HRD Department here and written to Ministries in Delhi demanding that the entire recruitment process be cancelled, an investigation ordered and the recruitment process started afresh in a more transparent manner. It was informed today that the six groups including the Sikkim Sachet Swarojgar and Berojgar Sangathan and Sikkim University Development Committee [comprising of affected landowners from Yangang where the campus is to come up], have even filed a PIL in the High Court here challenging the manner in which the VC directed the entire recruitment process. These developments and past assurances had led them to believe that no new surprises would be pulled on them.
This afternoon, however, word spread that the University was issuing appointment letters on the sly. With clear information difficult to come by, the protestors returned to picket the SU Management block at around 5 p.m. this evening. Soon, there was aggressive sloganeering at the spot and as their numbers grew, so did the tension. Traffic along NH 31A at the spot was also held up and cleared only after the confrontation was resolved for the day at around 8 p.m. The protestors stayed at the spot through the heavy rain and hailstorm which lashed the capital late this evening.
Although the slogans were loud and aggressive, no untoward incident transpired today either except the picketing of the SU office and the holding up of highway traffic till around 8 p.m. A State authorities also deployed a strong police detail at the spot to keep things from getting out of hand.
The protestors were insistent that the University not be allowed to force its way on the recruitment “agenda” and demanding that the appointment letters being issued today be suspended as well until the complete process of recruitments was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
As the slogans grew louder and the heckling stronger, the district authorities intervened and three representatives of the SSSBS were taken to the SU office for a meeting with the Registrar mediated by the DC and SP East. The trio – Anoop Thatal, Santosh Shivakothi and Hem Kumar Gurung of the organisation returned from the meeting with a one-sentence Notice issued by the Registrar Prof. Jyoti Prakash Tamang, which read: “Sikkim University has decided to keep in abeyance, acceptance of offers of appointment issued today”.
The level distrust became apparent when members of the protest groups refused to accept this notice at face value and started nit-picking, pointing out that the notice did not have a memo number or date clearly mentioned. The notice was sent back to the SU office and it was only when the Memo Number and date were included that the protest was withdrawn and the highway reopened for traffic. By then the hailstorm had also passed over.
District officials inform that the University management decided to issue the notice “looking at the situation” and that the appointment letters in question were issued against interviews conducted on 16 February for the posts of Laboratory Assistants, Library Attendants, and teaching posts in the Earth Sciences Department. All of these, as per the SU Notice, are now kept in abeyance.
The VC, against whom the entire protest is directly focused, was incidentally not in station today either. The recruitment process at the University was called into question first by a group of assistant professors who petitioned the Executive Council alleging that clearly prescribed processes and norms had been ignored by the VC in the rush to hold the recruitments when no statutory body was in place and so that he could have his way. Interestingly, the Executive Council, instead of addressing the complaint directly filed with it, decided to terminate the services of two of the faculty members who had made the complaint. This action, supposedly justified on disciplinary grounds, was taken because they had gone public with their complaint [having released copies of the complaint to newspapers here]. The matter was eventually taken up by the groups now leading the protest and has since pulled in more allegations of nepotism against the VC.

Truckers jam NH 31A at Melli-Laberbotey CP to protest undue harassment

NAMCHI, 21 March: Tired of what they see as undue harassment of transport vehicles from Sikkim by officers of the Commercial Tax Department, Government of West Bengal, at the Melli-Labarbotey Check Post on NH 31A in West Bengal, the truck drivers associations of Sikkim and Teesta jammed the highway for six hours today as they gathered at the Melli Laberbotey Check Post demanding an end to their harassment.
Speaking with this correspondent, the ex-vice president of the All Sikkim Truck Drivers Association, Deepak Gurung, argued that while these check-posts have been established monitor transport operations and to avoid unnecessary delays and harassments, the Commercial Tax Department officers there doing the opposite and subjecting transport operators from Sikkim to undue harassment.
Alleging that bribes were routinely demanded at this check-post and refusal to do so resulted in excessive checks and scrutiny due to which despite having “clean” documents and chalans, the vehicles were held up and delayed.
Members of the organisation further alleged that at other times, the officers there also seized the vehicle documents, driving licenses and even the keys of the vehicles until the penalties were paid up. Such seizures, they argued were not authorized by law. “We used to give some amount in order to avoid harassment and delay to reach to our destinations in time,” they added.
They also alleged that the officers also routinely held up vehicles which had not paid up their monthly “dues”.
When contacted, with Deputy Commissioner, Sonam Sherpa, condemned the allegations and countered that he and his officers were only performing their duty at the check-post.
He stated that they carried regular checking and errant vehicles were be fined according to the rules of the Commercial Tax Department of West Bengal. He also explained that the documents and keys were seized to ensure that the drivers did not flee till the checking was completed.
Meanwhile, the Janmukthi Himalayan Rajmarg Drivers Association president, Uttam Rai, informed that the concerned officers had given a written assurance that the check post personnel will no longer seize the documents and keys of vehicles and will also try to avoid such disputes in the future. This, after a six hour long discussion between association members, truck drivers and the officers of the department. It was only after this that the jam finally opened.

Losar dedicated to Tibetans inside Tibet

GANGTOK, 22 Feb: Tibetans here today joined their compatriots in exile across the world in observing their New Year, Losar, bereft of any celebrations and with solemn and somber gestures of solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet. The community, it may be recalled, has resolved not to celebrate Losar this year in light of the crisis inside Tibet which has seen a rash of self-immolations by Tibetans in protest against continuing Chinese occupation. These self-immolations have triggered stronger protests by the people inside Tibet which have been greeted with a severe crackdown and more lives lost to Chinese police firings.
In Gangtok, the Tibetans took out a Solidarity Rally organized jointly by the Tibetan Youth Club and Tibetan Women’s Association of Gangtok. More than 500 people participated in the rally which started from Sera-jey Dho-phenling Monastery at Chandmari, came down  Tibet Road passed through Kazi Road and ended at Chokasum at Nam Nang.
The Tibetan New Year officially begins with Tsedhor, the religious ceremony attended by officials of the Central Tibetan Administration and presided over by the Dalai Lama. Tsedhor was held at the rooftop of Tsuglha khang, Main Cathedral in Dharamshala, but the dances and music, which usually form part of this celebration, were not performed this year.
After the religious ceremony, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile started a daylong Solidarity Hunger Strike for the victims of Chinese police firing and Self Immolations in Tibet at the Tsuglha khang courtyard. Head of the three pillars of Central Tibetan Administration, Parliamentarians, officials of Central Tibetan Administration, and hundreds of public gathered to observe the hunger strike. The Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Penpa Tsering delivered the Losar Message [turn to pg2 for complete message].
As mentioned, the mood was as somber in Sikkim as well.
“We are not celebrating Losar with gaiety and fanfare this year and are instead taking out a Solidarity peace rally to protest Chinese crackdown in Tibet and in support of the people who have given up their lives for the sake of a Free Tibet,” explains Chung Chung, president of TYC, Gangtok.
“All of the people who set themselves on fire were very young - between the ages of 18 to 25 - and have not even seen a free Tibet,” he added.
“We lost our freedom in 1959 and since then there is no freedom of religion, democracy or women’s rights in Tibet. We are being supressed by the Chinese government from doing anything,” he said, adding that the people, especially the younger generation in Tibet want the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet as he is also their spiritual leader.
On 23 January, people of Amdo and Kham in eastern Tibet had taken out a peace procession, but the Chinese government opened fire on them without giving any reason, thereby killing 07 on the spot and injuring more than 70 persons, he further informed. The people who had come from Tibet for the Kalachakra prayers in Bodh Gaya have still not been allowed to return to their homes and have been forced into reeducation camps in Tibet Autonomous Region by the Chinese Government, he added.
He further informed that the rally taken out today was also to bring awareness amongst the Tibetans as well as the other communities about the plight of the Tibetan people inside Tibet.
Tibetans in Darjeeling sat on a one day hungerstrike, while in Kalimpong they are sitting on a relay three day hunger strike. The decision to tone down Losar celebrations here was also in solidarity with the loss suffered by Sikkim in the 18 September 2011 Earthquake, members of the Tibetan community add.
“We were earlier planning to take out a candle light rally in the evening here in Gangtok, but instead of the rally now all the Tibetans have been advised to light butter lamps infront of their respective homes in the evening,” the TYC president further informed. As per plans, Tibetans around the world will be switching off the lights in their respective homes at 9 p.m. to pledge solidarity with their compatriots inside Tibet.
“Tibetans in exile have reacted to the pain and suffering inside Tibet, while the monks and nuns who immolated theselves were sacrificing their bodies to draw the world’s attention to Chinese repression in Tibet”, the TYC president stated.
“In exile, we support those in Tibet who are on the front line of protecting our religious and cultural integrity; we try to ensure that their voices are heard by the world community. It is our responsibility to make sure that the calls of those Tibetans for restoration of freedom are heard, and their sacrifices are not in vain,” he further added.

Railway project affected people protest land acquisition, form Railway Affected Committee

GANGTOK, 06 Feb: On 5 February a huge gathering of land owners got together at Khani Khola, Majhitar for a meeting to discuss the behaviour, and in their view, unauthorised activity of railway authorities. The meeting was called in order to make a united stand and formulate a response over the attempt at acquiring their land for the railway head. The land owners, it is informed, are unhappy over the mapping and surveying of their land conducted by the railway authorities for construction of the railway project. In fact, the affected landowners of the area had earlier alleged highhandedness on the part of the railway authorities who had come to survey their land particularly in view of their submission that they are not ready to part with their lands. In view of this they have called the survey and mapping work being done on their lands ‘unauthorised’.
At the meeting the landowners discussed all possible scenarios and unanimously decided to form a committee for defending their cause and called it the  'Railway Affected Khanikhola Majhitar Joint Action Committee' (RAKMJAC). They have resolved not to allow any land to be taken. The meeting also cited various instances where people had been relieved of their lands without proper compensation and leading to their impoverishment. The landowners have also threatened an agitation should their land be taken forcibly. The next meeting is scheduled for 12 February.

It may be recalled here that for building proposed railway infrastructure then Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee had selected Mining Ground as a suitable place for the railway platform.

SSA group crowds Mintokgang gate seeking collective meeting with CM to pursue service extension demand

AMEET OBEROI
GANGTOK, 23 Jan: Around 100 teaching and non-teaching staff employed on contract basis under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan [SSA] by the Human Resource Development Department [HRDD] gathered at the gates of the Chief Minister’s official residence, Mintokgang, today demanding to meet him in person in pursuance of their demand seeking extension of their tenure. They are being supported by 176 Computer Teachers, who it is reported, had been assured by the Chief Minister of regular jobs, which have still not materialized and who have not received salaries for the last three months. Collectively, the group have formed an association by the name of “All Sikkim Departmental Adhoc Staff Group” [ASDASG] comprising of teaching and non-teaching staff.
“We have been trying to meet the Chief Minister for the past many days and have tried to get an appointment 2-3 times already, but have always been turned back by the PRO stating that we cannot get an appointment with the CM regarding this issue,” claimed Sonam G Sherpa [president, All Sikkim Departmental Adhoc Staff Group], while speaking to media-persons here today.
Interestingly, Mr. Sherpa also informed that the Chief Minister’s Office had conveyed word to them today to select a 5-member delegation to meet with the CM and discuss their demands. The ASDASG however decided not to send a small delegation and remained steadfast in their demand to meet him as a group, fearing that a smaller representation might feel intimidated and not pursue their demands as effectively.
At the crux of the matter is their demand for extension of their services.
“We were recruited last year and had put up the file regarding the extension of our tenure in November, 2011, and even the HRD Minister had approved the file for sanction. But when the file came to the officer’s level, it went missing and we have not been able to trace it,” he said. “It looks like that the departmental officials are trying to suppress the file and now we all have been running after the file to find its location,” he said.
“Our’s is a contractual job and we get consolidated pay and when we are asked to join we are given ‘service books’, wherein it reads that we are to have this job until the SSA projects running under the State government are not over, but here we are not even being given extension of our services even though the SSA continues,” argued Jigmee Bhutia, an ASDASG member.
He further informed that as they were drawing consolidated pay, they received only 22 days salary for December, 2011 instead of a complete month. “We were told that as we had worked for just the 22 working days we were being paid that amount,” he added.
Speaking on the agenda, the ASDASG president informed that the existing employees [under SSA] should continue on their jobs. Their group, he added, was “totally“ against NCTE criteria based norms and is also demanding that the previous staff should be extended the same privileges as the SSA regulars.
“There should be no discrimination from any department or the government policy, but should get equal justification before the eyes of law; we also want that there should be a systematic process for everyone in recruitment or extension; clear notification and circular should be forwarded by the department in any matter; we should be regularized under the manifesto of our state government as this list comes under the concurrent bill which has the same priority as the central government,” he added.
Mr. Sherpa insists that their group has no political affiliations and that they were taking the present stand for job security. He however added, “If our department cannot fulfill our demands, we will be compelled to become a politicised body”.
On the plan of action if a meeting with the Chief Minister as demanded by them does not materialize, he informed that the next course of action would be to go on a hunger strike, then march out with black flags and if even this approach fails, then turn completely political by fielding independent candidates for the upcoming panchayat elections and the assembly polls in 2014.
Meanwhile, the group sat in a meeting later in the day to decide future action. This meeting, the group’s president informs, resolved to try and meet the Chief Minister once again on Tuesday and should even this attempt end without results, go ahead with a dharna.
The president also alleged harassment by the PRO to the CM and the Superintendent of Police [East] in their bid to seek an appointment with the CM today.

Tashiding HEP protestors approach Governor

SCRAP PROJECT MEMORANDUMS SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR AND CHIEF SECRETARY

GANGTOK, 18 Nov: Save Sikkim, an organisation formed by a section of the residents of Yangthang, Tashiding and Yuksam in West Sikkim to oppose the 97 Mega Watt Tashiding Hydro-Electric Project being undertaken by Shiga Energy Pvt Ltd below Tashiding under Yangthang constituency in West Sikkim, today submitted a memorandum to Governor Balmiki Prasad Singh and the Chief Secretary demanding that the power project be stopped immediately.

Appointment letters issued, off-roll employees at Dikchu HEP call off strike

MANGAN, 18 Oct:  The off-roll employees with Sneha Kinetic Power Project Ltd. who went on strike yesterday when the company could not fulfil their three pending demands, returned to work today after the company capitulated and gave in to all the pending demands. The three pending demands sought the issue of appointment letters, salary increment and insurance cover for the employees.

Law College students walk out of classes to protest SU leave rules

GANGTOK, 07 Sept: Students of Sikkim Government Law College here at Lower Burtuk boycott classes this morning in protest of the leave rules notified for students by Sikkim University. By afternoon, however, after receiving the assurance of the HRD Department that it would look into the matter seriously and take in all their genuine grievances to the concerned authorities, classes were resumed at around 1 p.m.

Law College students call strike to protest SU’s new leave rules

GANGTOK, 06 Sept: Students of Sikkim Law College here at Lower Burtuk have called a strike for Wednesday to protest the new leave rules for students promulgated by Sikkim University. The students, it is learnt, plan to protest the new rules with placards and banners announcing their denouncement.
The students allege that an SU notice issued on 30 August dictates that no relaxation [on minimum attendance requirement of 75%] will be allowed to students even on medical grounds unless students opt for a zero semester.
Sources inform that the students had planned to observe a strike today but could not do so when the college authorities announced a holiday for today.