Sikkim Herald- The Early Years

The history of Sikkim Herald dates back to the time of the monarchy when there were hardly any newspapers in Sikkim. A brief research was carried out by the IPR officials during the recent compilation of the Department's Achievement Report from where it is gathered that few monthly magazines were published during the erstwhile monarchy, such as Kanchenjunga by Mr. Kashiraj Pradhan, (1957), Sikkim Fortnightly by Mr. K.B. Thapa and other few publications.

With the establishment of the Publicity Department way back in the early sixties, the need to have an official news bulletin was felt by the then Sikkim Government to highlight its developmental activities in the form of a monthly news bulletin. As a result, the Sikkim Herald came into being. The first Sikkim Herald which was published in Nepali dates back to March 1959. The editorial board consisted of the following members-

1. Mr. T.S.Gyaltshen as Chairman

2. Mr. J.T. Densapa as Member

3. Mr. Mohan Pratap Pradhan as Member

4. Mr. M.M. Rasaily as Member

Mr. C.D. Rai was the editor of the first Sikkim Herald.

With time, Sikkim Herald evolved gradually, the name of the Publicity Department changed to the Directorate of Information Services and again the Press and Publicity Department during the seventies. Subsequently, with the merger of Sikkim with the Indian Union in 1975, and keeping with the directives of the Government of India, the Department was renamed as Information and Public Relations Department in 1978.

The growing workload and requirements of the time necessitated. the restructuring of the department. The Government invited Mr. M. V. Desai, the then Director of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, to report on the information task in Sikkim in 1977. Based on this report, different sections like Publication, Advertising, Visual Publicity, District Information Centers, Film and Photo division were established. Thus, the department fully took on the new challenges, taking in its ambit, manpower training, upgradation of its technical equipment, etc. Gradually, over the years, the Sikkim Herald began to be published as a weekly in 1963 during the tenure of Mr. N.K. Rustomji, who was the then Dewan of Sikkim. Later, Sikkim Herald came out in the form of a newspaper which was cyclostated. With time Sikkim Herald was published in Tibetan and then subsequently in Lepcha language. The Nepali and Tibetan editions of the Sikkim Herald used to be brought out regularly. The first Sikkim Herald in Nepali dates back to March 1959. The departmental team even came across a handwritten Sikkim Herald that was published in Nepali in 1967.

Till 2014, the Sikkim Herald was published in 12 languages i.e Nepali-1959, Tibetan-1968, Lepcha-1977, Limboo-1989, Bhutia-1997, Newari-2000, Gurung-2001, Sherpa-2001, Tamang-2001, Rai-2001, Mangar-2002 and Mukhia-2004. After May 2011, Sikkim Herald English and Nepali editions were brought in colour.