Melli Dara Paiyong’s national award-winning panchayat team returns to warm reception

PURAN TAMANG
MELLI, 27 April: The Panchayats of Melli Dara Paiyong GPU, who bagged the Rashtiya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar 2011 in recognition of the effective gram sabhas held by them, were accorded a warm welcome on their return to their home constituency, Melli in South Sikkim, on Tuesday. The national award was conferred on the GPU at a special function held in New Delhi on Sunday, the National Panchayati Raj Day.
The panchayat members, led by their president, Ganesh Kr. Rai, were received at the Melli check post by a huge gathering of proud Sikkimese with traditional khadas and led to the bazaar in a procession accompanied with a celebratory burst of firecrackers.
The Melli Dara Paiyong GPU members are: President Ganesh Kr. Rai, Vice-President Data Ram Sharma, Secretary Dhan Bdr. Sharma, members Passang Doma Bhutia, Laki Doma Tamang and Santa Kumar Rai. Accompanying them were Zilla panchayat Farwanti Tamang, technicians Santosh Subba and Mani Kr. Rai and RDA Madhav Sharma.

The Rashtiya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar, instituted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, was received by the GPU’s president from the Union Panchayati Raj Minister Vilasrao Deshmuk and MP Manu Shankar Aiyer on Sunday.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj had declared the period from 02 October 2009 to 02 October 2010 as Year of the Gram Sabha and those Gram Panchayats which conducted Gram Sabha in excellent manner were awarded. The award includes a cash component of Rs. 10 lakh. Melli Dara Paiyong is in the illustrious company of six other GPUs from across the country to be feted with this prestigious award.
After the reception, a grand welcome ceremony was hosted at Melli Bazaar with the area MLA, Tulsi Devi Rai, in attendance accompanied by Headmaster Melli Secondary School, Sagar Rai, OC Melli Police Station, PI Bijoy Subba, MVI Rodhan Lama, CLC President BB Rai, and Arjun Rai, a respected senior citizen.
While addressing the gathering, the GPU President, Mr. Rai, thanked the people for the grand reception accorded on them and dedicated the award received by his GPU to all of Sikkim, underlining that the honour was not Melli Dara Paiyong’s alone, but that of the entire State.
The award, he added, was won not solely due to the work of the panchayats, but because everyone in the GPU joined hands to pursue a common goal of development. The support and cooperation of the people and officials from line departments has been consistently forthcoming, allowing for effective Gram Sabhas to be held and for proper planning and delivery to happen, he stressed.
He shared that while there definitely better panchayat and GPUs in India, it was the exception cooperation enjoyed by his team that had made it possible to secure this prestigious national award for Melli Dara Paiyong.
Also in his address, he praised the administration at Melli Secondary School and announced that the music and sound system required for the school would now be purchased from the Panchayat fund; an announcement which was received with a loud cheer.
The area MLA, Tulsi Devi Rai, while congratulating the panchayats and the people of the GPU, highlighted that the national award was proof of the successful implementation of local self governance in Sikkim, a commitment which the SDF Government has consistently pursued for the past 17 years.
Earlier, the president of the celebration committee, Mohan Prasad Sharma, himself a former MLA of Melli constituency, thanked the Melli Dara Paiyong panchayats for having reflected such overwhelming pride and happiness on the people of the area with their selfless work.
BDO Namthang, Rabin Sewa, present as the guest speaker for the day, spoke on the importance of Gram Sabhas and congratulated the entire team of Melli Dara Paiyong GPU for having not only understood this significance, but also having implemented it so well.
Earlier, the committee felicitated every panchayat member and the staff of Melli Dara Paiyong Panchayat Bhawan and students of Melli Secondary School and Sun Shine English School, Melli, treated the gathering to a well-received cultural programme.
The celebration committee was also represented at the function by its secretary LT Sherpa, treasurer Megh Bir Pradhan and members Pema Tamang, DM Pradhan, NB Pradhan, Ganesh Chettri, Pradeep Bhyahut, Binod Gupta and Deo Kala Sharma.