Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Sikkim MP meets Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh to convey Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling’s support and commitment to help Pulwama terror victims New Delhi 19 February: Shri P D Rai, Sikkim’s lone Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Tuesday called on Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Rajnath Singh,   at his office and conveyed the state’s and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s unstinted support and commitment to the government over the heinous terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, J&K that resulted in the loss of lives of over 40 jawans and the destruction of their families.  Shri Rai conveyed that the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has always supported the Government and the NDA/ NEDA unconditionally as has been advocated by party president, Shri Chamling. He said the SDF fully supports the stand taken by the Government to counter the terrorist activity that has resulted in a huge loss of lives of our brave jawans at and the people of Sikkim sta...

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 ...

September 22, 2017, Aizawl: The Sixth Edition of the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit organized by the Integrated Mountain Initiative annually, concluded at Aizawl on the 22nd September. The three- day long Summit was a platform for discussion and brainstorming of ideas and solutions for issues surrounding its two major themes- Climate Change and Sustainable Mountain Cities. A Meet of the Legislators from across the Indian Himalayan States held under the aegis of the Summit was a grand success.  The Meet was chaired by the Hon’ble Speaker of Mizoram State Legislative Assembly, Shri Hiphei and co- chaired by Member of Parliament from Sikkim, Shri PD Rai, themed ‘Climate Change- Impacts and Way Forward’. The Meet saw the active participation of 8 Members of Parliament from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Uttarakhand, 19 Members of Legislative Assemblies including two Ministers and Deputy Speakers from all 11 Mountain States...

30 January 2017, New Delhi: The two-day Legislators’ workshop on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commenced in New Delhi at the WWF Secretariat on 30 January 2017. The workshop with the legislators’ is a part of the on-going consultations with key stakeholders about attainingthe SDG agenda in Sikkim through a legislative framework. The workshop began in the presence of Minister of Environment& Forests, Shri TsheringWangdiLepcha and Minister of Rural Management & Development Department Shri S.B.Subedi and sitting Member of Parliament from Sikkim, Shri P.D.Rai. Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals adopted unanimously by 193 member nations of the United Nations in September 2015. These include ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests. The United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) in India, Mr. Yuri Afanasiev set the tone for the day by e...

PRESS RELEASE (9 th March, 2016) The North East MPs Forum held a condolence meeting at the Parliament Annexe in New Delhi today to mourn the untimely demise of Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma. Addressing the condolence meeting, Sikkim Lok Sabha MP Shri Prem Das Rai, Secretary-General of NEMPF, gave a brief account of Shri Sangma’s life and contribution to the nation. He remarked that Shri Sangma will be remembered as the man who ran the parliament with a smile. Nagland Lok Sabha MP Shri Neiphiu Rio, Vice Chairman, NEMPF, also paid rich tributes to the departed soul. A condolence message to mourn the death of the former Lok Sabha Speaker was read out by Shri Rai on behalf of the Forum. A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the departed soul. The following is the text of the message that was read in the condolence meet: ******* Condolence message by NE MPs (Mourning the demise of former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma) Friends, we gather to pay...

By PD Rai January has been full of negative news starting with terrorist attack on our Air Base at Pathankot. For a nation hungry for good news Sikkim has provided one. Sikkim has been declared a fully Organic State by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. No mean achievement this. Congratulations all around. Organic Mission accomplished. How many States can say this for any Public Policy carried out in mission mode? This milestone could not have been achieved but for the complete cooperation and coordination of all sections of our society. There are still the naysayers. There will always be the fringe elements. They also serve an important purpose and we are grateful to them. We wake up to another day. Anything changed? Apparently not. But from now on it is about building on the success of the achievement. By no stretch of imagination is this a small task. It is also an onerous one too. Chief Minister Chamling is a proud man. Having crafted a shared vision of a Fully ...

By PD Rai In India many startups are actually happening in the Organic Agri space. Little is known of or about them. They may not have found space in Vigyan Bhawan during the inauguration of #StartupIndia. Of course, overwhelmingly the glitz of Technology led startupswere there for everyone to see. They are the now famous ones in online marketing like Flipkart or those in transportation aggregation like Ola. Prime Minister Modi flagged off #StartupIndia in New Delhi on 16 th January. This is a fantastic initiative and we all applaud it. It has the architectureof giving entrepreneurs the space to do what they do best, creating products and services from ‘ideas’ and making them work – the startup ecosystem. After making them work finally curating them to be able to monetize it before ramping it up in terms of scale. That an idea can fail and hence needs that exit route is planned well. Self certification is a key ingredient. This will take away the ‘babu’ or small time bu...

PRESS RELEASE PD Rai, MP(LS) Sikkim Sikkim Lok Sabha MP PD Rai placed the need to improve disaster preparedness in Sikkim and other Himalayan States, particularly in light of their vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides. Speaking at the Lok Sabha during the question hour, Rai stated that climate change has only accentuated the risk caused by seismic activities in the Himalayan region.  Rai pointed out that various studies have predicted an increased risk of a future major earthquake in the Himalayan region. The Lok Sabha MP from Sikkim, while welcoming the initiatives of the Ministry of Earth Sciences in the area of seismology, sought clarification on the steps taken by the government to respond to this threat. Minister of Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan acknowledged that the concerns raised by Rai are valid “as Sikkim and other nearby areas are more prone to earthquakes and seismic activities”. He assured Rai that the government will “ma...

Please critique, don’t criticise — Sikkim Organic Mission is far too important - and yes for the future of young Sikkimese farmers By P. D. Rai One can look at political rhetoric in many different ways. If it leads to useful debate, imaginative thinking and good outcomes on matters of policy, they are hugely welcome. But what SKM leader PS Golay attempted in the recently concluded session of the Sikkim Assembly when he spoke on Sikkim’s Organic Mission, relied more on accusation than substantial critique. What is known as ‘optics’. Unfortunately, Golay and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, have reduced their politics to throw-mud-and-see-what-sticks and Sikkim’s Organic Mission appears to be their chosen victim. As the opposition, they may continue to play their games of one-upmanship, but as a State, let us not sell ourselves short. Consider what Chief Minister Pawan Chamling pointed out in his reply: this is the first time in the history of the world that a state has ...