MPs meet Minister of Home Affairs in New Delhi –

Expansion of the Sikkim State Assembly and granting of Tribal Status to Eleven left out communities discussed, among other important issues like North Sikkim Disaster Management Scheme

New Delhi 12 February: The Members of Parliament from Sikkim, PD Rai Lok Sabha and Hishey Lachungpa Rajya Sabha, called on the Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Rajnath Singh today in his office. They briefed the Minister on a number of issues.

First amongst them was the demand of expanding the Sikkim State Assembly from 32 seats to 40 seats and giving 5 seats reservation to the Scheduled Tribes of Limboo and Tamang, which is at the stage wherein Cabinet approval is needed. This demand has been consistently brought up by the Sikkim government and hence they requested that if it is not possible to introduce a bill during this session of the Parliament an ordinance must be promulgated by the Government for the same. Similarly, they presented the issue of giving Tribal Status to the eleven left out communities from Sikkim under the aegis of the 371 F provisions of the Constitution of India. For this, they submitted a copy of the proceedings from the Sikkim Summit for Tribal Status 2018 held last year.

Further, they informed the Hon’ble Minister about the heavy damages suffered by Mangan Town and the surrounding areas during the heavy monsoon rains between 9^th to 16^th September 2018 which caused extensive damage to various infrastructures including roads, especially North Sikkim Highway only road to China Border, water supply, schools, power lines, public and private buildings, etc. If immediate mitigation measures are not implemented the Mangan town and NHS road may not endue the next monsoon. The Detailed Technical Report (DPR) for the same was cleared by the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and has been forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for final approval and sanction. Hence, they requested the Hon’ble Minister to expedite the approval and sanction of the DPR for Mitigation of Mangan Landslide at the earliest to enable Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to initiate the implementation of the mitigation works during the dry winter season (December to April).

Two memoranda discussing the above issues in detail were submitted to the Hon’ble Minister in his office by the MPs.

The MPs also submitted a memorandum to Hon’ble Defence Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman to demand permanent restoration of troubled spots on North Sikkim Highway (NSH) and to release remaining compensation between Rangrang – Mangan acquired by Border Roads Organisation under Zimchung revenue block NSH.