Exercise your rights and shoulder your responsibilities, CM appeals

PURAN TAMANG
NAMCHI, 24 May: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling called off his tour of Rabongla scheduled for today, as part of his 40-day Sikkim Bhraman, since he is not keeping well. He is expected to resume his road-trip on Wednesday. The travelling has been hectic and his interactions with rural folk in their villages have been interesting. Owing to a Sunday and a Sakewa holiday in between, we could not cover day 5 and 6 of the CM’s tour. The rest-day taken by him has opened the space to catch up on the lost days in the pages of NOW!
On 21 May the CM took the Government [he is accompanied by Ministers, MLAs and Heads of Departments] to more parts of South Sikkim, starting with Phongla. His message to the people for the day was to collaborate with the State Government in second-generation development. The infrastructure was no all in place, and focus should now be to engineer a paradigm shift in how people contribute to development – by leveraging the infrastructure and the opportunities to achieve self-reliance and give Sikkim a robust economy.

For infrastructure creation to be of a quality which sustains and inspires, quality needs to ensured, he stressed while interacting with the residents of Phongla. For this, he urged them to be more vigilant and watch over the projects and schemes coming to them to ensure that no compromises were being made in the delivery.
“Exercise your rights and shoulder your responsibilities,” he conveyed at all his meetings over the two days.
At Chuba, his next halt, he met with the people and assured that the community centre which the people have been hoping for will be established soon and also assured that work was underway to solve the problem of drinking water supply.
While at Perbing, the CM sanctioned the demand for the construction of a Sherpa Cultural Center.
In Thinley, besides enquiring after the concerns of the people, he explained the reason prompting his tour as one in which he was taking the government to rural Sikkim and also taking stock of what has been achieved thus far and what the people expect for the future. This collaboration, he said would facilitate his aims of developing Sikkim into an exemplary state of the world.
The Chief Minister also offered prayers at Thansing Monastery on his way to Bermiok-Tokal. The monks presented him with a Guru Padmasambhava statuette.

22nd May [IPR]: Day-6 saw the CM return to his appeal for consolidation of infrastructure and quality completion of all works. While addressing gatherings at various places, he emphasized on maintenance of quality and urged the people to stand up and protest if quality was not being maintained in works in their vicinity. The infrastructure created by the government was for the people, hence people’s participation was necessary to maintain quality delivery, he said.
Addressing a gathering at Ben Gompa, the CM directed the government servants to ensure that stock materials are adequately maintained at government godowns for timely completion of schemes. Responding to demands for improved road connectivity, the Chief Minister informed the people that the government has taken a policy decision not to go in for new roads for the next two years but to develop, upgrade, maintain and complete the existing road network of the state.
At Temi Bazaar, while commenting on the increasing number of tourist arrivals in Sikkim, he appealed to the people to opt for eco-friendly and organic tourism. This will sustain the tourism sector for a longer time and will also create a unique identity for Sikkim as a tourist destination, he explained.
He added that the Government has done its part by creating all required infrastructure and opening adequate opportunities, now it was the time for the people to reciprocate by achieving self-reliance and supplementing development in the State.
Giving on-the-spot sanctions to demands put forward by the people and directing the concerned ministers and heads of the departments to ensure timely implementation, the Chief Minister, at one point, said, “All the demands of the people have been met; there is not much to do on that front.”
Continuing with this thread, he added that a stage has come now where the people have become dependent on the Government to solve all their problems. While the Government will always be there for the people, such dependence was unhealthy, he remarked.
During the day the Chief Minister visited Temi Bazar, Tarku,Yangyang, Simchuthang, Mangley, Namprik, Ben Gonpa, Pyaku, Govt. Primary School Rankey, Sharchoog-Bayphug Cave, Sangmoo Gompa, Gangla and Government JHS Sangmoo.