PDS rice at Re 1 from June: Sikkim CM

RONGLI, April 23, 2013

Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on April 22 made a daylong tour of different places in Rongli subdivision sensitizing the local villagers and students on steps taken and to be taken for overall development of Sikkim. He visited schools at Lower Dalapchand, Katarbotay, Chujachen, Lokdara and Rolep.

Addressing the gathering at Rolep, the Chief Minister said his government is making all efforts to make Sikkim as a premier pilgrimage tourism destination in the country. He also sanctioned Rs. 20 lakhs for the first phase construction of Kabir Bhawan.

The Chief Minister informed that that State government would be facilitating Public Distribution System (PDS) rice at Re. 1 and Rs 2 per kg from June in Sikkim. The government is also upgrading houses and holding Janta Melas this year in a grand manner, he said. He called upon the students to focus on their education.

Twenty percent of the State’s budget is being directly spent on education system and we have launched several schemes to encourage our students to do better, said Chamling. He mentioned the purpose of investing huge amount of funds into education is to facilitate equal and quality education to the students. We don’t want any students to drop out due to financial constraints, he added.

“The State government aims to make the forthcoming generation as capable human resources. We want to break the tradition of students only aspiring to become doctors and engineers and we want them to aim for becoming international professionals like global writers, scholars or scientists”.

The Chief Minister pointed out numerous opportunities in education sector adding that it is up to the students to leverage them to become successful in future. He urged students to remain competitive and updated by reading newspapers to know about local and global events.

Laptops would be distributed to students of Class XI and XII by the State government, he said. To the 54,000 employees in the State government, the Chief Minister urged them for holistic development of Sikkim. He added that the government is spending Rs. 1400 crore in their salaries out of the annual plan of Rs. 2060 crore for this fiscal year.

Chamling also inaugurated the SDF ward level office at Riva, Machong. He urged the people not to fall for the misleading propaganda of certain elements.

(Courtesy: Sikkim Express)