SNPP welcomes ruling party’s initiatives on Sikkim Subject issue

 EOI

Gangtok : Members of the Sikkim National People’s Party today held a press conference where they welcomed the initiatives of the state government to make the Sikkim Subject Certificate the primary document of identification for all Sikkimese people.

The Sikkim government announced the following initiatives:

1.Sikkim Subject Certificate is an essential pre-requisite for securing driving license, permits for taxi/truck and hawker licenses, among others.

2.No subletting of any contractual work to be allowed and the concerned department should immediately draw up rules and prescribe appropriate procedures.

3.Submission of Sikkim Subject Certificate to be made mandatory while issuing enlistment certificate of contractors as this will help in building healthy competition among local contractors.

4. Trade license to be issued exclusively to Sikkim Subject holders in rural areas.

 “The SNPP feels this is the correct interpretation of the Constitution and of Article 371F and appeals to the Sikkimese people to support this initiative, despite the fact that the SDF party was responsible in the past for the dilution of the very same laws,” noted SNPP president Biraj Adhikari. The party said it supports the initiative taken for the protection of Sikkimese people’s rights, but the SNPP is also apprehensive about the procedures that will be adopted to enforce the new rulings.

Further, the SNPP demands the laws be enforced with firmness, but by also keeping in mind the human perspective and consider those even if they happen to be illegal. Adhikari said the people of Sikkim should realise the whole exercise of Article 371F is to recognise the special identity accorded to Sikkim and to ratify the state’s autonomy. The initiatives announced by the ruling SDF party are for the benefit of the people, he observed.

It is a sad fact that about 31,000 fake Sikkim Subject holders were identified by the SDF itself in the past; hence the SNPP now urges the ruling party to take punitive action as prescribed under law against those holding such fake documents, lest the efforts turn out hollow, especially when the entire state is supporting the new move cause, noted Adhikari.