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GANGTOK: Pray for clear skiestonight [27 August] and look to-wards the south-eastern half of thenight-sky [preferably at midnight]for a red, tennis ball-sized orb. Theweather gods permit, you will bewatching an astronomical phenom-enon which won’t repeat for thenext 60,000 years.

A unique alignment of planetshas the astronomers excited all overthe world. Mars, Earth, Jupiter

and Sun will form a straight linetonight. What this alignment alsodoes is that it brings Mars the clos-est possible to our planet. By theway, the red, tennis ball-sized orbin the south-eastern hemispherementioned earlier is the Mars.

Mars’ proximity to earth, as infact the entire phenomena, is madepossible due to combined gravita-tional pulls of Jupiter and Mars, re-veal experts like Dr. Samarendra Dasof Abhirampur, Malda.

With planetary movements so

closely associated to astrology canmega-predictions be far behind?

Dr. Das shares that tonight’s rar-ity is not a harbinger of good news.“Wild fires and drought are predictedin general. For the western countriesthe predictions are even moregloomy. They should prepare for about of unrest, uncertainty and tur-moil,” Dr. Das predicts.

Even if one were to dismisssuch predictions, the uniquenessof the phenomenon makes it worthwatching.

Once in 60,000 years

GANGTOK: The Chief Minister has announced that the process will begin in Septemberand by October, the left-out communities of Newar, Bahun, Chettri and Sanyasi will be

issued OBC certificates. There will be no more “forward communities” in Sikkim anymore. The move, prompted perhaps by similar clubbing of the entire Nepali diaspora as

OBC in some other states, is, however, more complicated than it sounds. While somesee it as a “dilution” of the OBC status, others would rather wait for the official

proclamation to understand how the CM proposes to go about the latestinclusion. NOW! explains some possibilities. TURN TO pg 3 FOR DETAILS

OBC

editorial: NOW, WILL BEGIN A YEAR OF POSTURING

2; NOW! August 27-02 September, 2003

DEPTT. OF SPORTS & YOUTH AFFAIRS

42

ED-SPACEGANGTOK AUGUST 27-02 SEPTEMBER, 2003

NOW!SIKKIM MATTERS

UD&HD DID NO WRONG

Rejoinder to “Dump It” [BazarBuzz] published in Wednes-day 20-26 August, Vol. 1 No.09 issue of NOW!

The endeavour of the UrbanDevelopment & HousingDepartment is to keep

town clean and beautiful. When itwas decided to remove the vehi-cles from the MG Marg from 5PM to 9 PM, the officers of theDepartment along with the policeofficials had inspected MG Marg.It was then noticed that there waslot of littering of papers by thepublic and in particular by the chil-dren. In order to prevent this lit-tering, the Department decided toapproach businessmen who couldafford to buy fancy waste binswhich are procured by the Depart-ment from Bangalore. These fancy,fibreglass dust bins in the shape ofRabbit/ Monkey are presentable,durable and hygienic.

The idea of the Departmentwas to request the businessmenalong the MG Marg and those whocould afford to buy these waste binswhich will not only prevent litter-ing but will also give a presentablelook to the MG Marg. The wastebins could also be bought on a cost-sharing basis between two or threebusinessmen as has been done. Noone was forced to buy and/or threat-ened to revoke licenses to shopkeepers refusing to buy. It is notpossible for the Department to dis-tribute these waste bins for free toall. The sale proceeds would thenbe used again for placing furtherorders. The Department has beenplacing these waste bins at publicplaces free of cost.

It is not a fact that these wastebins were procured by the Depart-ment from a local agent at the rateof Rs. 2,000 [Rupees two thou-sand] only. Hence, the allegationmade to the Department that theDepartment is making major profitby selling these bins is totally false.The local agent who claims that hehad supplied these bins to the De-partment @ Rs. 2,000 is invited toapproach the Departments so thatwe could place order in future tosupply similar waste bin.

The Department welcomestrue healthy criticism from con-cerned citizens and not false base-less allegations.Joint Secretary, Urban Develop-ment & Housing Department,Govt. of Sikkim

SUICIDES,

A SERIOUS ISSUE

Thanks for bringing out anexcellent article on a veryserious and neglected prob-

lem [NOW! Vol. 1 No. 8, articletitled “No One Wants to Die”] re-garding suicides. Here, in Namchihospital, we doctors are also veryconcerned about such issues andDr. CS Sharma, our psychiatrist atNamchi hospital, has started a pi-lot project “Expressions2002” forpreventing suicides, so as to say,to nip the problem in the bud. Ihave the privilege of being in thecommittee that has been formed.

The project has been started in 7schools in and around Namchi. Ihave attended one such interactiveseminar with the visiting profes-sor from VIMHANS Delhi. In thisseminar I was inspired with theknowledge of our school childrenand their great potential. The pilotproject “Expression 2002” is onlythe second project in all of India af-ter the Delhi project. On the basis ofthese two projects, an action planwill be formulated for developmentof the mental health of school chil-dren for all-India implementation.

Further, I would like to con-gratulate on your very optimisticand positive approach in yournewspaper. You have taken up aserious issue which needs to bediscussed, debated and solutionsfound within our own communitywith our own efforts. Wishing youall the best for the continued suc-cess of your weekly.Dr. R Dorjee, CMO (South),Office of the Chief MedicalOfficer, Namchi Hospital,South Sikkim

SUICIDES – DON’T

CATASTROPHISE THE

ISSUE

This is reference to your article “No One Wants todie”. First and foremost, I

would like to thank you for bring-ing out a serious and neglected pub-lic health problem of suicide. How-ever, the article deals with the bareoutline of the problem and we un-derstand, as it is a highly technicalsubject within the preview of ex-perts. However, the article painteda gloomy picture for person con-templating suicide. As such, depres-sive and mentally blocked i.e. un-able to find options in life, for themsuch article makes them furtherhopeless. There is a slightly touchof catastrophization of the prob-lem. It is requested that such arti-cles should not be negativistic andinstead should focus on availablefacilities and whatever manpowerthat exists in state of Sikkim.

Even though Health depart-ment has got insufficient man-power, but mental health team ofSTNM Hospital is working veryhard through District MentalHealth Programme providing com-prehensive preventive, promotiveand rehabilitation care for mentallyill persons. Suicide is an end prod-uct of depressive disorders, schizo-phrenic substance dependence etc.

Similarly, even though DistrictMental Programme is not started inSouth District, a team of MedicalPersonnel headed by the undersignedPsychiatrist is working in a school-based pilot project on holistic health“Expression 2002-2003” aiming forpromotion of mental health, preven-tion and early detection of mental dis-orders. Already 10 different schoolshave been covered and two teacherseach of 7 schools have been given train-ing on this regard. Under the “Expres-sion 2002” in and around Namchi,the teachers of the above said school

have been trained in early detectionof mental disorder, management ofminor mental disorder and referral ofcomplicated cases to Psychiatrist;Namchi Hospital. This campaign hasbeen actively supported by Dr. RDorjee, Chief Medical Officer(South), Namchi Hospital.

Suicide can be prevented bytimely intervention and early detec-tion of depressive disorders and othermental illnesses, supportive and in-formative media rather than criticalarticles can go a long way to preventsuicides. If the editor is interested,the undersigned is prepared to give aseries of articles in simple terms toincrease awareness and to help pre-vent suicides. However, our inten-sive and detailed campaign under“Expression 2002” has already beenlaunched in Namchi and is going onwith its ground breaking work.Dr. CS Sharma, Psychiatrist,District Hospital, Namchi

NO SQUATTERS IN

DZONGU

I am a regular reader of NOW!but in the 30 June – 5 Augustissue, it has been totally mis-

taken in reporting that evictiondrive launched in Dzongu LepchaReserve, because there are no suchdwellers in our areas. So I suggestthat NOW! media to have a lookand then give the report, which wastotally false report.Sonam Tsh. LepchaDzongu

The error pointed out is cor-rect and regretted. The details ofthe eviction drive carried in a laterissue of NOW! clarified this error.

– ed

THANK YOU, GUV’NOR

Kudos! To His ExcellencyThe Governor of Sikkim,Sri V. Rama Rao. We, the

residents of Arithang village, arereally grateful to him for taking timeto visit our area and governing uponthe UD&HD to clear up a hugepile of garbage dumped near theAll India Radio Staff Quarter. Thisis really a yeoman service.

With high regards from and onbehalf of the residents of Arithang.TT Bhutia

ADULTERATION

Congratulations for exposingthe story about sale of adul-

terated ice cream in Jorethang. I washorrified to read the article aboutadulterated ice cream being sold,really things have become very sadin Sikkim. Ice creams are specialtreats for most people and childreneagerly look forward to eatingthem. That this activity could con-tinue for five long years after ini-tial discovery by government offi-cials is unbelievable! Do inquiriestake so long? Stern action shouldbe taken against the officials re-sponsible for allowing sales to con-tinue as it amounts to criminal neg-ligence and dereliction of duty.What are they being paid for?

While on the subject I wouldlike to point out to the authorities

� LETTERS

Turn to pg 3

Now, Will Begin A Year

Of PosturingThe resurgent State Congress unit took out a rally touringSouth and West districts kicking off what it promotes as the“Sikkim Jatiya Sadhbhavana Jan-Jagran Abhiyan.” Looselytranslated it means “the movement for communal harmony.”Their motorcade was not ambushed even though it movedthrough ruling party strongholds. But that is not the pointhere. The significance of including west Sikkim in the first“abhiyan” cannot be ignored. Geyzing, after all, had onlyrecently spiraled in the vortex of what could have been amajor communal conflagration. Neither the old Congress-men, nor the new entrants in the party fold had commentedon the issue at that time. Now, however, the equations havechanged. It is only a matter of time before they figure outhow to squeeze the issue for all its political worth withoutantagonizing any community. As for the ruling front, it hasalready made it amply clear that every announcement, deci-sion and proposal will now be made with one eye on thepolls coming up in a year’s time. There will be times whenit flexes muscle [like it allegedly did on the day of the much-publicised SSP-Cong merger] and others when it placates.

The optimist will see these developments as a signs ofan active Opposition and a committed government. But thatis how optimists think. It would be more accurate to admitthat the election year has begun and the campaigning hasbegun. Neither side will [and nor should they be expectedto] pull any punches. No opportunity will be spared to lashout and no corners will be spared to appropriate an “issue”.Since no real “issue” has really offered itself thus far, thesame old ones of communalism, corruption and casteismwill raked up. By both sides. While this politicking plays out,leaders will also be getting back in touch with the grass-roots, the vote-banks, the constituencies. While this willundoubtedly be good for the people as individuals, it mightnot be the best time for Sikkim on the whole. The State iscruising along on a nippy speed as far as developmentalactivities are concerned. International trade is all set to re-turn to Sikkim, funds from the North Eastern Council areonly a proposal away, a new industrial policy is all readyand gift-wrapped for the taking… But an integral part of de-velopment is firm decisions and people rarely take well tofirm decisions. While this firmness can still be pushedthrough in the middle of a term, they become absolute no-nos in election year. No legislator will support a move evenif he/ she so much as gets a hint that it might be unpopular.But tough decisions are as unpopular as they are neces-sary. At the same time, the Sikkimese electorate continuesto remain temperamental and shares with the rest of thecountry a short public memory. Our leaders know that onlytoo well and will opt for playing it safe, for now. The nextelections will decide where we head.

Till then, the people can kick back, relax and prepare tobe pampered.

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GANGTOK: The good news camein parts. In his Independence Dayaddress, the Chief Minister, PawanChamling, reiterated his commit-ment to get all “left-out” Nepalicommunities included the OBC list.Since this has been a promise madeand a demand raised by almostevery political outfit in the State,few took the assurance seriously.Most took it as just as an assur-ance. Then, on 21 August, within aweek of his last statement on theissue, the Chief Minister did some-thing no one had expected – he puta deadline to his commitment. “Allleft-out Nepali communities willbe issued OBC certificates by Oc-tober,” he announced while ad-dressing a gathering at the inaugu-ration of the Samman Bhavan here.What this effectively means is thatthe Sikkimese Nepalese will all cel-ebrate this Dasain united under theOBC umbrella.

No one had expected Mr.Chamling to actually put a dead-line to the inclusion process. Afterall, repeated pleas at the central

level had failed to convince thepolicy-framers there that the com-munities they saw as “forward”were actually not very differenteconomically or culturally from thecommunities included in the OBClist. In fact, the CM has admittedto as much and was recently quotedas saying that he has decided onthe inclusion despite denials at alllevels. As things stand, the entireNepali community will be includedin the OBC category.

When this unification gets thenod from the Centre, only time willtell, but that has not dampened thespirits among the erstwhile “for-ward communities”.

Laudatory messages and felici-tations are pouring in from everyone of the organizations represent-ing these, till recently, “left-out”communities.

Almost all these celebratorymessages make it a point to men-tion that the Sikkimese Nepalesehave been united again. Many be-lieve that the Mandal movementhad cleaved the Nepalese society,which had been further fragmentedwith the recent inclusion of theLimbus and Tamangs in the Sched-

uled Tribes list. If things proceedsmoothly from the announcementto the clearance, these will be con-cerns of the past.

This, however, does not go tosay that the transition will besmooth. There is already someconfusion on how the ruling frontplans to accommodate the newcommunities of Newar, Bahun,Chettri and Sanyasis in the OBCbloc without disgruntling thosewho already populate this cat-egory. The confusion and aversiontriggered by the inclusion of Lim-bus and Tamangs in the ST list isonly too fresh in public memory.In fact, even some within the rul-ing party feel that the latest inclu-sions “dilute the existingOBCstructure.”

Obviously, the latest initiativehas been thought out and adjust-ments made to “keep everyonehappy”. In fact, the recent read-justment of the State’s reservationpolicy could have been a precur-sor to the latest announcement.

On 2 July, last month, the leg-islators had cleared a proposal toincrease reservation of seats ingovernment jobs and higher stud-

ies. Keeping in mind the inclusionof new categories in the ST list, itsquota was hiked to 31 per cent;Scheduled Castes to 6 per cent andreservations for OBCs to 21 percent. Significantly, a new categoryof reservation for economicallyweaker classes belonging to un-re-served communities was fixed at11 per cent.

Although the State Govern-ment is yet to make an official an-nouncement of how the new OBCswill be accommodated [an SDF leg-islators meet to discuss this issuewas going on at the time of goingto print], informed sources revealthat although the new communi-ties will enjoy all the general ben-efits accruing to the OBCs [likesubsidized interest on loans], theywill be accommodated in the al-ready ear-marked 11 per cent res-ervation for higher education andemployment.

Obviously there are wrinklesthat need to ironed out in this is-sue, but for now, the State is justcelebrating the announcement. Thebrain-storming on the nitty-gritties,the people would rather leave totheir legislators.

Everyone celebrates this Dasain as OBCthat supplies of branded ice creamproducts are totally irregular in Sik-kim. Prices charged vary from shopto shop and it is common to be overcharged by as much as 20 to 30 per-cent over the MRP. If you ask why,you will be told that the marginsare very small and taxes heavy mak-ing ice creams expensive. To avoidall this inconvenience to the publicand to get rid of a source of corrup-tion, the government should exemptice cream from tax. This is not muchto ask and we are hoping that some-one will take action.Name withheld on request

IGNORING

CONTRIBUTIONS

I am a regular reader of yourpaper and I think it is the bestin the state. Your articles are

very balanced and well written. Butwhy don’t you print articles like‘Super market or super mess”. Thisarticle was printed in the WeekendReview and was appreciated by all.Before this it was printed in Gang-tok Times and also in Sikkim Ex-press if I am not mistaken. I havebeen told that it was also sent toyou by the writers, who are resi-dents of Lal Bazaar. So I cannotunderstand why you did not printit? Please start regularly printingletters sent by your readers. If youdo not have space you should printmore pages. I hope you will do soT Rai, Syari

a NOW! REPORT

4; NOW! August 27-02 September, 2003

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GANGTOK: Do not Panic, saydoctors at STNM about the risingcases of Neuro-cysticercosis in thecapital. No reason to panic maybe,but there is no reason to ignorefacts either. Twenty cases of thedisease have been diagnosed at thehospital over the last few monthsand these are numbers the doctorsthemselves are concerned about.

So what exactly is Neuro-cyst-icercosis?

In layman terms, it meansworms in the brains. And is mostlycaused by eating pork. Pork tape-worm infection is an intestinal in-fection caused by the adult tape-worm Taenia Solium. Infectionwith the larval stage of the wormcauses cysticercosis. When thebrain is involved it is called Neuro-cysticercosis.

“In this condition, the cyst ofthe tape worm gets incisted insidethe brain matter causing local dis-comfort as well as bio-chemicalchanges. Most often the patientwill come with symptoms of epi-lepsy or seizure disorder,” says Dr.

WORMS IN THE BRAIN!Neuro-cysticercosis casesrise in Sikkim IL Sharma, Head of Psychiatry,

STNM.Given the symptoms, most

cases get referred to the psychia-try wing first. Generally, epilepsyneeds investigation of cause. Whensent for CT Scans, it was discov-ered that the epileptic fits werecaused by parasitic infection of thecentral nervous system by tissueinvading larval forms of the porktapeworm.

“Unless large numbers of cystsare present, the body’s immunesystem will not act to destroy theorganism and cysts can live formany years undetected. A live cystcan go undetected for as long as 5years before dying or causingsymptoms in the host. Neurologicsymptoms arise when theencrysted worm dies and the hu-man mounts an associated inflam-matory response,” informs Dr.Giri, Radiologist, STNM.

Although this form of infec-tion in the brain is quite commonin the country, even affecting Ten-nis champ Leander Paes, currentlyin the US for treatment of the same,the rise in Sikkim is quite recenteven though a large section of thepopulation are regular consumers

of pork. Interestingly, pork is notthe only culprit here.

“We have had three cases ofNeuro-cysticercosis which havenot been caused by eating pork.All three were complete vegetar-ians,” adds Dr. Giri.

In these cases infections werereported from areas where plantsin gardens or farms are fertilizedwith human faeces and humanswere exposed to contaminated soil.

So how serious is it and can itbe cured easily?

“Neuro-cysticercosis typi-cally is benign and most lesionsresolve spontaneously within 2-3months. The disease is easilytreated. Extensive de-worming fora month along with anti-epileptictreatment is usually all that is re-quired. However, mortality ishighly depending on whether thedisease process is simple or com-plicated,” explains Dr. Sharma.

So what can a person do to re-duce the risk of contacting the dis-ease?

“Avoid pork. If that’s impos-sible, cook it well and make surevegetables are washed well beforebeing cooked” he adds. Simpleenough protective measures tokeep a tapeworm larva from inhab-iting your brain.

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Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE)announces a three week programme on

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GANGTOK: The politics of con-fusion is here. Even as the formerpresident of the Sikkim SangramParishad Nar Bahadur Bhandari triesto resuscitate the Congress in Sik-kim with SSP’s induction into thenational party, his former colleaguesmaintain that SSP has not mergedwith Cong [I] and that only leadershave signed up as Congressmen.

The latest reiteration of thecontinuing existence of SSP comesas a rejoinder to Mr. Bhandari’srecent disclosure that SSP ceasedto exist on 5 August earlier thismonth and that it has beenscrapped off the Election Commis-

THE POLITICS OF

CONFUSION

Do we have Sangramisin our midst, still?

sion’s records. The leaders whorefused to part with the Sangramired & white flag have retorted thateven they are “in touch” with theElection Commission and haveapprised it of the continuation ofthe party, its symbol and its flag.

The diehard Sangramis, nowled by former MLA RajendraUpreti as the Working President,in a meeting held on 22 August,reportedly “discussed” the “sta-tus” of the party and passed a reso-lution condemning the statementsmade by Mr. Bhandari. They main-tain that the “claims” made by Mr.Bhandari that the SSP had mergedwith the Congress were “totallyfalse and misleading.”

The SSP acting general secre-

tary, DB Basnett, in a press state-ment issued recently revealed thatthey were already in touch withthe Election Commission and hadappraised it of the continuation ofthe party and its symbol and flag.

The meeting also decided tolaunch a massive “public aware-ness” programme to inform thepeople of the existence of SSP as aparty, the release added.

The dissidents have also takenexception to the renaming ofSangram Bhawan into CongressBhawan. The meeting “discussedat length” the decision and resolvedthat the renaming of “a propertyof the SSP” as another party’sproperty tantamounts to “cheat-ing the public.”

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GANGTOK: In less than a yearof its being officially inducted intothe North Eastern Council, Sikkimprepares to host the NEC Gover-nors and Chief Ministers’ Confer-ence here on September 11.

Hectic preparations areunderway for what is being de-scribed as “an important milestone”for Sikkim. Governors and ChiefMinisters of the seven northeast-ern states will descend on Gang-tok and stay here for three days ofthe Conference which will be heldat the Banquet Hall of the SikkimLegislative Assembly.

“This Conference is significantbecause it means that the Seven-Sisters have now finally acknowl-edged Sikkim as a part of the north-eastern family,” Principal Secre-tary-cum-Development Commis-sioner, GK Subba said while talk-ing to NOW!

Mr. Subba admitted that theagenda for the Conference is notclear yet since the other sevenstates are yet to finalise their agendaand submit it to the NEC Secre-

tariat in Shillong. “The final agendaof all the seven States should bereaching us by August 29 at thelatest,” he said.

Sikkim has no confusions onwhat its agenda is going to be atthe Conference – the NEC fundsand Sikkim’s share of it.

The State government has al-ready submitted proposals forschemes worth Rs. 300 crores un-der the NEC for 2003-04. It is learntthat the Conference may decide onsome of the schemes for Sikkim.

“Our proposals will be takenup for discussion at the Confer-ence. Some schemes that we haveprioritized may even be given thego-ahead during the meet,” Mr.Subba said.

Another very vital item on theState’s agenda will be the call forthe Seven-Sisters to collaboratewith Sikkim in its industrial devel-opment activities, especially in thesmall-scale industries sector. Sik-kim is likely to put forward a pro-posal suggesting that the sevenstates put offices and outlets fortheir produce in Sikkim.

“There will also definitely bea call on the states to participate in

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FROMAMBER

DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT

The North Eastern Council is the nodal agency for economic and social development ofthe northeastern region which consists of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, As-sam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.

The North Eastern Council was constituted in 1971 by an Act of Parliament. The constitu-tion of the Council marked the beginning of a new chapter of concerted and planned endeav-our for the rapid development of the region.

The Council consists of the governors as well as the chief ministers of all the eight North-Eastern States. One member of the Council is nominated by the President as the Chairper-son. At present, the Assam Governor, Lt. Gen. SK Sinha, holds the post.

Proposals made to the Council are first examined by the Steering Committee which hasthe Secretary, NEC, as its Chairman and Development Commissioners of the constituentstates, heads of NEC-funded institutions and NEC Advisors as members. Projects cleared bythem are then taken up at meetings like the one to be held in Sikkim.

The NEC Secretariat is based in Shillong, Meghalaya. The budgetary requirements of theCouncil are now reflected under Department of Development of North Eastern Region. Earlierit was reflected under Ministry of Home Affairs.

Seven Sisters to call on the brother

cross-border trade over Nathula,”Mr. Subba added.

The honour of holding such ameet notwithstanding, the eventwill definitely pose a logisticalnightmare for the State administra-tion. The protocol details of host-ing seven Governors and ChiefMinisters only compound thepressures of providing security forthe dignitaries. Most of the gover-

nors and CMs headed for Sikkimfall either in the “Z” or “Z-Plus”category of security cover.

Sikkim Police however isconfident that it will measureup to the task. A senior officialtold NOW! that all necessaryprecautions are being taken andthat adequate arrangement hasbeen made.

WHAT IS THE MEETING ALL ABOUT?

NOW!CAN BE REACHED

AT 270949

sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

by SARIKAH ATREYA

6; NOW! August 27-02 September, 2003

6

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THAMI

MAGAZINE

RELEASED

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK: Members of theAll India Thami Welfare Asso-ciation, Sikkim and Darjeelingwere ferried in to the capital bythe busloads last Saturday toattend the release of their maga-zine, “Niko Bachintay” by theChief Minister Pawan Chamlingat the Community Hall on 24August, Sunday.

At the function, the ChiefMinister, while donating Rs.1,01,001 to the Association alsooffered to print 2,000 copies ofa Thami language dictionary.

A cultural programme waslater presented by the Associa-tion which also felicitated Mr.Chamling for having includedthe Thami community in theOBC list and also for variousother activities undertaken bythe government for the welfareof the community.

Learning the art of governanceis no easy process. This, thebatch of twenty-six under

secretaries inducted on 1 July, lastyear are discovering. First, it wasthe group training at the Accounts& Administrative Institute, Gang-tok, which concluded in Novem-ber last year. Then, for the nextfew months, in groups of three,they were attached to different de-partments every four days. In

Under Secretaries and theArt of Governance

Sikkim has twenty-six

new under secretaries.

Actually, it has had them

for over a year now and

this freshest crop of

bureaucrats are still

learning. A NOW! FEATURE

finds out just where they

find themselves on the

learning curve…

March finally, they were allottedtheir respective departments. Justwhen they thought they had all thetraining they would need, theywere sent this year for a month-long “Induction Course” at AssamAdministrative Staff College,which concluded recently. Justback from the course, they unani-mously agree that it was a “veryeducative experience”.

The Course was broadly aimedto expose participants to somebasic aspects of Administration.The probationers were familiarisedwith the concepts of bureaucracy,planning technique, project imple-mentation, monitoring and evalua-tion, etc.

“Everything was done verysystematically and professionally.It was interesting to hear seasonedbureaucrats and judges give lessonson planning technique and otherimportant aspects of administra-tion,” says Tashi Chopel, US,

Mines & Geology.For Diki Yangzom, Directorate

of Handicrafts & Handloom, it wasthe participatory learning ap-praisal, or rural analysis, which wasinteresting to learn. “It is a newway of getting information fromrural people. Sort of interactivesurveys, how to do spot-assess-ment of problems, list them in termsof priorities, etc,” she explains.

The faculty at the trainingcourse was impressive enough.Renowned personalities like Dr.Prem Saran, a Harvard alumni andwell-known writer, senior bureau-crats and retired judges were someof the teachers.

But it was not all work and noplay.

Mornings began with hour-long yoga classes and after the day’sprogramme, the participants couldrelax in the big campus or playgames of their choice.

“There was a huge library with

over 60,000 books which we couldaccess at all times,” revealsAnnapurna Alley, Rural Develop-ment Department. “The overallexperience was a good exposure forus, it helped us to look at thingsfrom a larger perspective,” sheadds.

The only spoiler, it seems, wasthe heat. “It would have been idealif the programme had been held inwinter. All of us suffered becauseof the heat,” says Diki.

All the talk on projects andplanning that these young bureau-crats learnt may not come in handyimmediately, but it is somethingthat will definitely help them inthe days to come, when they are indecision making positions.

“For perhaps the first time webecame aware of our real role ascivil servants and also our respon-sibilities,” says Chopel. That is asgood a beginning as any.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK: On 31 May lastyear, the Crime Branch of SikkimPolice created a record of sortswhen it registered nine FIRs oncriminal misdemeanours in oneday. The FIRs covered alleged“crimes” in areas not normally cov-ered in the police beat. The chargesrecorded ranged from alleged eva-sion of sales tax to adulteration ofpetrol to misappropriation offood-stocks. Although the caseswere widely publicized when theywere lodged, not much was heardof them since.

The cases are back in news. On26 August, Tuesday, the HighCourt took suo-moto cognizanceof an anonymous letter whichsought to enquire on the latest sta-

RECAP SIKKIMRECAP SIKKIM

COURT TAKES COGNISANCE OF ANONYMOUS LETTER, WANTS

TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 9-FIRS OF LAST YEARtus of the FIRs. Now, even theCourt wants to know. The letter isreported to have also alleged that“not enough initiative” was takenin pursuing with the charges andthat is something that the Courtwill decide should it be convincedthat charges should have been filedin the said cases. On Tuesday, theHigh Court granted the AdditionalAdvocate General’s request thatthe State be given four weeks totender its reply to the allegations.

It might be recalled that theCrime Branch had become ex-tremely active in April and Maylast year. It was handing out ques-tionnaires to hardware stores fordetails on their sales tax returnsfiled with the State government,raiding petrol pumps to verify thequality of petroleum products sold

by them to checking the invento-ries of food godowns. It was con-vinced that not all was right in anyof these sectors and filed the FIRs.

A 90-pg FIR was filed against aFood & Civil Supplies DepartmentASI for allegedly misappropriatingstocks worth Rs. 85 lakhs from theSingtam food godown while he wasposted there between April 1988to January 2000. This allegation hadalready been investigated by theF&CS Department which had fixedthe misappropriation at Rs. 5lakhs. A hardware dealer was ac-cused of having bought and soldcement worth Rs. 2 crores since1995 without having paid any salestax. Another hardware dealer was

also accused of dodging sales tax andsix petrol pumps were booked un-der Section 7 of the Essential Com-modities Act, 1955, read with Sec-tion 420 of the IPC for selling adul-terated petroleum products.

At that time, Vinod Enterprise,one of the hardware stores accusedof evading sales tax had clarified thatthe Crime Branch FIR was basedon a clerical error from his side. Simi-larly, the petrol pumps owners haddefended that they sold only thepetrol they were supplied and thatthey were not equipped well enoughto verify the actual quality of thepetroleum products they weresupplied. They had also alleged thatsince samples were not lifted from

the supply depots for comparison,aspersions should not be cast onthem and their business ethics.

Police officials had admitted atthat time that the Crime Branch mayhave bitten off more than it couldchew since investigating the crimesrequired specialists. The fact thatthe operations brought under theCrime Branch scanner were alreadybeing policed by other agenciescould also have made the situationuncomfortable for the khaki sleuths.

Be that as it may, the Depart-ment’s defence on why the FIRsdid not proceed further will beknown in a month’s time as alsowhether the Court buys their storyor not.

August 27-02 September, 2003; NOW! 7

15

DATELINE NORTH SIKKIM

NORTHSIKKIM

Quizthe NOW!

Send your entries before 25 August to NOW!, Gairi Gaon, Tadong.

One lucky winner wins gift hamper worth Rs. 100 from

AIR VIEW CABLE Mangan Bazaar

North Sikkim

1. Which of the following is richest in Iron?

A. Rice B. Apple C. Pulses D. Orange

2. Which of the following banks recently went global?

A. State Bank B. Bank of Baroda C. IDBI D. Canara Bank

3. Which of the following currencies has the highest

value?

A. Franc B. Euro C. US Dollar D. Pound Sterling

4. Which of the following is used as a memory device

in computers?

A. Rectifier B. Flip-Flop 3. Comparator D. Attenuator

5. In which place was electricity first supplied in In-

dia?

A. Kolkata B. Darjeeling C. Mumbai D. Chennai

Name:Address:

1 2 3 4 5

Rinzing Namgyal, the locallandlord of the area then,established the town of

Mangan in 1903. Apart from layingthe foundations of the district head-quarters, Rinzing Namgyal hasmany other achievements to hiscredit. We can piece together thecharacter and achievements of thisremarkable man from the few docu-ments available with his descend-ents, the Malling Kazi family.

His year of birth is not known,but his grandfather seems to havebeen known as Malling Dewan.Rinzing Namgyal probably went toschool in Darjeeling since there wereno schools in the Mangan area atthat time. Records show that he wasin government service in Darjeelingfor 22 years between 1878-1900.Initially he worked as a Tibetan lan-guage teacher, then as second mas-ter and was subsequently made thesub-inspector of schools by theBritishers for Sikkim.

Later, he joined the Survey ofIndia where he excelled as a sur-veyor and an explorer. In 1884, hewas part of the settlement surveyof Kalimpong, Sikkim and GhoomPahar. Between 1884 to 1889, heconducted surveys in Bhutan, Ti-bet north of Khangchendzonga andwestern Nepal. Records reveal thatin 1884-85, Rinzing Namgyal led a

MANGAN: A re-census of theAbove Poverty Line and BelowPoverty Line ration-card holdersin the region will be undertakensoon. This was decided at the“Chief Minister ’s AntodayaAnnadan Yojana Diwas” meetingheld here at the Zilla Bhawan hereon 23 August, last Saturday. Theprogramme was organized by theZilla Adhyaksha, North, LobsangTenzing and zilla panchayats ofRinghem-Nampatam blocks ofNorth District.

A re-census was necessitated

Mangan agrees on re-census of APL/ BPL familiesfrom DEEPAK SHARMA

when the previous census createdconfusion in the minds of the peo-ple who felt that the distinctionbetween APL and BPL familieswas not clear enough.

The Deputy Director, Horti-culture Department, appraised thegathering about the rules and regu-lations on deciding APL/ BPLcardholders and assured that thecensus would be properly con-ducted this time.

The North Zilla Adhyakshainformed the gathering that theChief Minister ’s AntodayaAnnadan Yojana, which waslaunched on Independence Day thisyear, assures the under-privileged

Sikkimese households 35 kgs offree rice every month. He also saidhandicapped persons and thoseabove the age of 65 years will alsobe entitled for similar benefits un-der this scheme.

In the first stage, 8-10 personswith no income will be selected forthe scheme from each block in thedistrict.

When NOW! spoke to peopleto verify whether they were satis-fied with the latest enumeration,they endorsed the list and mostappeared satisfied with the list thatthe panchayats had prepared.

A total sum of Rs. 10 lakhshave been sanctioned by the State

Government for the GramPanchayat Units for utilisation inevery block. Proper budgetary uti-lisation for the project will belooked into by the District Plan-ning Officers.

While 15 percent of the fundhas been set aside for repair ofwater supply lines, 10 percenteach for social forestry, womanand child welfare, plantation pro-grammes and medicinal plantsprojects and 30 percent for pro-motion of arts and crafts. The resthas been set aside for miscellane-ous expenditure.

All the projects will be carriedunder the supervision of the Zilla

Panchayats and the people of theDistrict.

A similar meeting under thechairmanship of the North Dis-trict Upadhakshya, Palden Bhu-tia, was held in Kabi Tingda thesame day. The Gram Sabha, at-tended by District Dev. Officer[N] along with the Panchayatmembers of the Kabi-TingdaGram Panchayat Unit, and gen-eral public, whose attendancewas more than 50%, deliberatedon the same topics as theMangan meet. The Sabhaunanimously selected 48Antodaya beneficiaries and 160BPL beneficiaries.

Rinzing Namgyal – The Pioneer of ManganCURTAIN RAISER TO MANGAN’S CENTENARY - 2by PEMZANG TENZING

survey team on a circuit of theKhangchendzonga, making him thefirst person in recorded history todo so.

In 1885-86, he was sent to Ti-bet through Bhutan with orders toconfirm the source of theBrahmaputra. At that time, it wasnot known whether the Tsangporiver of Tibet was a part of theBrahmaputra or feeding theIrrawady which ends in South EastAsia. Rinzing Namgyal was notsuccessful in his objective as he wasattacked and turned back by the

natives of Bhutan. But he managedto obtain what was the first goodsketch map of the territory whichis present day Bhutan.

Subsequently, he seems tohave been part of the team survey-ing western Nepal and theKumaon-Garhwal regions of India.

After his early years survey-ing, the enterprising Rinzing

Namgyal applied for and was ap-pointed to the post of officiatingsub-deputy collector of Darjeeling.He held this post for ten years untilhis retirement in 1900.

Subsequently, the much-trav-elled man returned to Mangan wherehe took up the hereditary landlord-ship of the area. In 1903, he is re-

corded to have set up the town ofMangan.

There are records elsewhere of acivil suit with the then Chogyal, ThutobNamgyal, over the ownership of theDzongu reservation. Rinzing Namgyalactually seems to have won the case inthe court of JC White, who was Politi-cal Officer and de-facto ruler of Sikkimthen. Subsequently, on the Chogyal’sreturn from imprisonment in Kurseong,Rinzing Namgyal was made to returnthis area to the Queen’s possession.There seems to have been no love-lostbetween the strong-willed local land-lord and the royal family.

This is where one loses track ofRinzing Namgyal’s interesting life.There are no further records of his sub-sequent history or his death.

This pioneer from Mangan willbe remembered for a number offirsts. He was one of the first per-sons from Sikkim to have a west-ern-style education and hold a postof some importance in British In-dia. His achievements in explora-tion and surveying speak for them-selves. He also had the vision tolay the foundations of a town atthe junction of the Tibet-Lachung-Lachen-Gangtok route and theDzongu mule-tracks. The peopleof Mangan now plan to etch hisname in the collective memory ofMangan for all times to come bynaming a road after him.

The Lower Mangan bazaar as it looks today, not much different since thetime it was set up. Seen in the pic [left to right], the Denzong TradingCompany and the Manu Dokan of Jagat and Amar Singhi. The peepal treearound which most of the town activities took place, is rather desolatenow that the town and its bustle has shifted to the North Sikkim highway.

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DESPATCHESDESPATCHES

PELLING: There was a time whenPelling had only a few hotels of-fering the most basic of accommo-dation. Road conditions were pa-thetic, power distribution and wa-ter supply frustratingly poor. Butthat was then. The Pelling of nowis a booming tourist destination towhich visitors make a beeline for,at times even bypassing the capi-tal city of Gangtok.

The turnaround was triggeredwith the setting-up of the PellingTourism Development Association[PTDA] in 1989 at a time whentourists were just discoveringPelling and the locals only wakingup to the possibilities it held.

Today, Pelling boasts of 50well-appointed hotels and ahealthy tourist inflow.

According to local hoteliers andtravel agents, the flow of tourists,both domestic and foreign, has in-creased substantially in the recentyears. During “season”, Americans,Britons, Germans, Dutch, Frenchand even Israelis can be seen bar-gaining favourable rates with hotel-iers and travel agents along withdomestic arrivals from neighbour-ing West Bengal and elsewhere.

Needless to add, given theheavy traffic of tourists, a reliablecommunication network becomesa necessary service. Here, Pellingfeels lets down.

“Basically we have problemswith the poor services of BSNLhere. Our phones lie dead most ofthe time. Tourists might be on aholiday, but most of them want toremain connected. Given the poortelecom service here, we cannoteven offer them the most basic ofinternet connectivity. Even themobile coverage in the area is verypoor,” says Deepak Pradhan, thePTDA vice-president.

THE TENDERER should sign on each page of the tender documents. Therate should be quated both in figures and words and should be inclusive ofSales Tax and all other taxes. Any overwriting or corrections should be authen-ticated with signature of tenderer. Tender should be placed in sealed cover andsuper-scribed with the name of work tendered for. Incomplete tender form sosubmitted is accepted, the Earnest Money deposited by him/her shall be forti-fied and no claims shall be entertained. If the works are time bound and hencemust be completed within the stipulated time period as above, failing whichpenalty will be levied as per the agreement conditions. In case of any discrep-ancies in rates printed in the schedule of rates & quantities issued with thetender form, the rates given in the approved SPWD schedule of rates will betaken as correct.

THE DEPARTMENT reserves the right to accept or reject any or all thetender without assigning any reason thereof.

Dated: Gangtok, 22nd August ‘2003. Divisional Engineer TourismDepartment

Release Order No87/IPR.2003-04

Date: 23/8/03

GOVERNMENT OF SIKKIM

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

SHORT TENDER NOTICE ( NO. 5 / 2003 - 2004 )Sealed tenders in percentage basis are invited for the works mentioned belowfrom CLASS-III contractors enlisted in the SPWD belonging to Rautey-RumtekGram Panchayat Unit, East Sikkim and having experience in such Govt worksto reach the office of the Divisional Engineer, Tourism Department, Gangtok asper the schedule given below:-Tender form could be obtained from : The Divisional Engineer, Tourism Depart

ment, MG Marg, Gangtok, East Sikkim.

Date of sale of tender form : 15th &16th September’ 2003.

Last date &time for submission of tender : Till 12:30 PM on 17th September’2003.

Date & time of opening of tender : At 1:00 PM on 17th September’2003.

THE INTENDING CONTRACTORS are required to obtain the ‘Bank Challan’from the office of the undersigned during the office hours towards the cost(non-refundable) of tender documents and duly deposited the amount as indi-cated below in State Bank of Sikkim under the receipt head”1452-Tourism -800other Receipts-Cost of Tender Forms,” the Department’s copy of the receiptBank Challan should be produced along with the following documents for ob-taining the tender form:-1.An application for availing the tender form,2. Up-to-date enlistment registration certificate (attested copy),3. Latest Income Tax Clearance Certificate,4. Latest Sales Tax Clearance Certificate,

*The copy of the original certificates shall also need to be produced for theauthentication at the time of issue of tender form.’

*No tender forms shall be issued on authorization letters.EARNEST MONEY as indicated below should be deposited in temporary

accounts in the form of TDR with the State Bank of Sikkim in favour of theAccounts Officer, Tourism Department, Gangtok, and same should be invari-ably enclosed with the completed tender form, failing which, the tender shall berejected.

Sl. Name of Work Cost of Work Earnest Tender Completion

No. put to tender Money Form Time

(in Rs. ) (in Rs.) Cost (Rs.) (in months)

1. Construction of Tourist

trail from 2nd Mile Rautey -

Rumtek to SPWD Road

below the Botanical

Garden near Rumtek 14,96051 /- 37,400/- 2000/- SIX (6)

Monastery.

for business enquiries call NOW! at 270949

PELLING

WHERE TOURISMBOOMS DESPITE

EVERYTHINGa NOW REPORT

And once the first woe isspelled out, other irritants comespilling out too.

“Though we have a boomingtourism industry here, it is a shamethat we do not even have a taxistand. This creates problems forthe tourists and also leads to overcrowding during the tourist season.Vehicles just line up on the streetsand this creates a lot of confusionand disorder. We need a proper taxistand,” says the PTDA GeneralSecretary, Tshering Wangdi. Simi-lar confusion can also be viewedon Pelling streets during such eventsas the Khecheopalri Mela, Bumchuand Durga puja festivities, addsMr. Pradhan.

Garbage disposal is anotherconcern among hoteliers here. Al-though UD&HD has providedtrucks to lift garbage from Pellingevery morning, hoteliers here wanta permanent garbage disposal site.

Despite their grievances, thetravel trade industry here is haleand hearty. They also give thecredit of Pelling’s boom to the StateGovernment initiatives at promot-ing it as a destination and helpingdevelop tourist spots around it.And since this tiny hamlet hasdone well for itself despiteinfrastructural limitations, they arealso planning ahead.

PTDA members are suggest-ing village tourism development inplaces like Darap, Singang andNakuchungbum. A museum, li-brary or even a flower nurserywould be welcome add-ons onPelling they feel.

While their demands for betterconnectivity might still take sometime to get addressed, one thingremains assured, Pelling is not go-ing to allow minor irritants like get-ting bumped off the telecom net-work cloud its prospects. Thisplace is after all an example of thetriumph of private enterprise.

August 27-02 September, 2003; NOW! 9

COMPULSORY LINGUA FRANCA

17

fresh everyday

ofSLICELIFE

As I grow to

understand life

less and less,

I learn to live it

more and more.

Jules Renard

FOCUSFOCUS

GANGTOK: The Chief Minister’sannouncement that his governmentwas considering to make Nepali lan-guage compulsory in schools hasbeen received rather ambiguously bythe people, not too sure about whatto make of this latest move.

The announcement came signifi-cantly on “Bhasa Diwas” [the daymarking the recognition of Nepalilanguage in the VIIIth Schedule], 20August, while Mr. Chamling wasaddressing a gathering at the GoldenJubilee celebrations of GovernmentSecondary School, Sudunglakha, EastSikkim. Mr. Chamling, in his address,said that his government has taken a

policy decision to make Nepali lan-guage a compulsory subject inschools in the State.

“Nepali language as a whole hasbecome the identity of the Nepa-lese community. It is one languagethat not only binds the Nepali com-munity, but also all communities ofthe State,” Mr. Chamling explainedas a rationale behind making Nepalicompulsory in schools, adding that“the vibrancy and richness of thislanguage has to be preserved.” Mak-ing the language compulsory learn-ing will lead to “further develop-

ment and enrichment of the lan-guage,” as well as contribute to thedevelopment of other recognizedlanguages of the State, includingthose sub-languages and dialectsspoken within the Nepali commu-nity, Mr. Chamling is convinced.

There is however some confu-sion over the decision since Nepaliis already being taught as the secondlanguage in all schools in the State.

BB Gooroong, the Political Ad-

Govt considers making Nepalicompulsory in schools

a NOW REPORT

visor to the CM, believes the confu-sion could stem from the fact thatpeople “may have not been fullyunderstood” the CM’s statement.

“Nepali language is alreadybeing taught in schools as a secondlanguage option since English is themedium of instruction and there-fore, the first language. What theCM actually meant was thatNepali, since it’s our lingua franca,needs to be further preserved and

propagated. And if it is made com-pulsory as a third language or ad-ditional language option, studentsfrom non-Nepali communities canalso study the language,” Mr.Gooroong explained.

An official policy decision on theissue is still awaited following whichit will be taken up for discussion bythe legislative and the cabinet. After itgets cleared at these levels, the imple-mentation will take place.

GANGTOK: The thawing of ten-sions between India and Chinawhich subsequently led to the bi-lateral decision to resume tradeover Nathula is perhaps the big-gest development for Sikkim sincethe Merger. Not only does Sikkimcease to be an issue with China,since trade over Nathulatantamounts to its de facto recog-nition as a part of India, it alsopromises to trigger an unprec-edented industrial and economicboom in the State. The State gov-ernment is now in the middle ofconducting a thorough study on allthe logistic and infrastructural re-quirements of the State and the ar-rangements that need to be put intoplace once trade over Nathularesumes. Based on this study, amaster-plan will be prepared soonand presented to the Centre.

While the State government isalso in the process of identifyingthe key areas and sectors in theState that need special attention forinternational trade, not much hasbeen reported on the actual bi-lat-eral agreement signed between thetwo countries.

Significantly, among the mostimportant documents signed dur-ing Prime Minister Atal BehariVajpayee’s visit to China in June

The agreements which facilitated the reopening of NathulaEveryone’s talking of

resumption of trade

over Nathula, but few

know of the decade of

memorandums that

preceded the grand

announcement of June

2003. A NOW! Feature

details the recent his-

tory within which lies the

genesis of Nathula’s

latest role…

this year was the memorandumbetween India and the Governmentof the People’s Republic of Chinaon “Expanding Border Trade” on23 June, 2003.

This Memorandum was pur-suant to the Memorandum be-tween India and China on the “Re-sumption of Border Trade” signedon 13 December, 1991, and “Pro-tocol on Entry and Exit Proceduresfor Border Trade” signed on 1 July,1992.

The latest memorandum orunderstanding details that “desir-ous of opening another pass on theIndia-China border and setting upan additional point on each side forborder trade,” the two countriesagreed that the Indian side woulddesignate Tsomgo in Sikkim as thevenue for border trade marketwhile China settled forRenqinggang in the Tibet Autono-mous Region. The two sides agreed

to use Nathula as the pass for en-try and exit of persons, means oftransport and commodities en-gaged in border trade.

All the provisions of theMemorandum on the Resumptionof Border Trade and the Protocolon Entry and Exit Procedures forBorder Trade signed between thetwo countries under the memoran-dum shall also be applicable to theborder trade through the Nathula.

The present Memorandumcame into force on the date of itssigning and will be valid during thevalidity of the Memorandum onResumption of Border Trade.

The task of working out themodalities is now on Sikkim’sshoulders which has already con-stituted a high-power committee,headed by the Chief Secretary, tooversee the preparations. A high-power committee has also beenformed at the Centre, which is

working in close co-ordination withthe State committee. According toreports, China has also alreadystarted preparations for the tradeon their side of the border. Work-ing out the modalities and getting

the infrastructure in place shouldtake a minimum of three years.Time that Sikkimese entrepreneurscould use well to prepare to be-come the indispensable facilitatorsof cross-border trade.

Chinese soldiers stroll on their part of the old Silk Route at Nathula

a NOW! pic

10; NOW! August 27-02 September, 2003

DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT

18

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UTTARAY: “Tourism has beenidentified as the thrust area for eco-nomic development in Sikkim andI am pleased that the people ofUttarey are taking the initiative andheading in the right direction. Theycan rest assured that they have thefull backing of the State Govern-ment which has displayed its com-mitment to tourism promotion bywinning the tourism promotionaward four years in a row.” TheTourism Minister, KT Gyalsten,was speaking at the valedictoryfunction of the training programmeorganized by an NGO, SikkimDevelopment Foundation, here on23 August, last Saturday.

Stressing that tourists were asinterested in the culture and his-tory of a place as they were awedby its beauty, the Minister said:“Preserve your language and cus-toms because they attract as manytourists as beautiful locales and bearticulate about all subjects relatedto Uttarey because tourists loveto hear of such things from locals.

The Minister added that tour-ism was the “industry of the millen-nium” which held much prospect forSikkim but demanded hard work andsheer discipline. From his depart-ment’s side, the Minister promisedto set up a welcome gate and touristinformation centre at Uttarey as de-manded by the people here.

Ganden Lachungpa, Project Di-rector, Sikkim Development Foun-dation, explained that the trainingprogramme organized for guides,cooks, lodges operators, transportoperators and porters was part ofthe Foundation’s project “Sustain-able Tourism Development & In-come & Employment GenerationProject” funded by the AustralianFoundation for The People of AsiaPacific and supported by KEEP[Kathmandu Education EnvironmentProgramme], TAAS and UETDA[Uttarey Environment & TourismDevelopment Association]. The 3-day training programme started on21 August.

When NOW! reached Uttareyon 22 August, the training sessionwas going on full swing. Interestedvillagers, note-pads in hand werejotting down trade secrets beingshared by the resource persons.Interestingly, even some schoolteachers had signed up for thecourse targeted essentially at thosefrom the travel trade industry.This across the board interest intourism reflected in the numberof participants. While the organ-

THE FIRST THREE OF UTTAREY

Bir Bahadur Limboo, Prem Lal Limboo and ShamsherLimboo are three porters of Uttarey. Why the three names

are uttered in the same breath is because the trio were partof the first trek flagged off from this remote hamlet in westSikkim.

In 1991, this group accompanied the first trekker to useUttaray as a trekking base camp - Sonam Wangdi, vice-president, Sikkim Development Foundation. Thus, trekkingbegan in Uttarey more than a decade back.

“I still remember that day in July 1991. Yapla [SonamWangdi] was very fit and he walked with great spirit. Wewere very delighted because he took our pictures too,”shares Bir Bahadur Limboo.

“The days were sunny and we had a perfect trek to Dzongriand Yuksom. Although we were familiar with the route, I haddoubts over Yapla but I was surprised when he often left ustrailing behind on the trek,” adds Prem Lal Limboo.

“Thirteen years have passed and we are still doing thesame job. I like all the foreign tourists. There was this Ger-man Sahab who gave me a watch, some also give us moneyand small gifts,” recollects Shamsher.

Speaking on the hardships faced by them, Shamsheradds that at times it gets severely cold.

“I had a pair of gum boots, but now it is too worn-out towear. So I accompany the sahibs in my slippers. On thetrekking routes we consider ourselves lucky if we get shel-ter in some cowshed otherwise we have to sleep out in theopen,” he said.

No matter what the hardships, the gang of three looked ratherhappy when they got some remunerations from the organizersof the training camp there for sharing their experiences.

izers had “optimistically”planned for 150 participants theywere in for a surprise when some230 participants enrolled.

Local porters, PassangPhurba Sherpa and SangaySherpa have been frequentingtrekking spots like Goechala andDzongri for the past four years.While speaking to NOW! theyadmitted that they often foundthemselves in embarrassingspots when asked to pitch tentsfor the groups they accompa-nied. They did not know howto! The training session helpedbecause it also held classes onsuch minor details which arenormally taken for granted in aperson accompanying treks.

The most popular class, how-ever, was the rock climbing train-ing at Bandukey conducted by Sik-kim Mountaineering Associationmembers Satish Bardewa andTashi. A lot of excited villagers col-lected near the site. “It looked easy

but it was hard but I did it any-way. It was a thrilling experience,”said an excited Iksha Hang Subbaafter shimming down the rock-face.

Locals involved in the tourismindustry were groomed by the Ex-ecutive Director [STDC], PK Dong,Jt. Secy. [Land Revenue] TNDhakal, Renzino Lepcha, TsheringDorjee, Tashi, General Secy.[TAAS] Satish Bardewa, MartinLepcha, and TAAS President,Palzor Lachungpa who attended thefunction as the resource persons.

It was just as well that theFoundation lined up such seniorplayers of the industry for thetraining programme since the re-sponse was more than overwhelm-ing.

Karma Takapa, Executive Di-rector, SIkkim Development Foun-dation, while addressing the train-ees at the valedictory function, as-sured that the Foundation wouldhold such training programmes an-nually at Uttarey.

by TINA RAI

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August 27-02 September, 2003; NOW! 11

19

BUSINESSBUSINESS

a NOW REPORT

LEGSHIP: There is a large waterbody, infrastructure for boating andverdant forests to row through andbeautiful location. All ingredientsfor a tourism boom one mightthink, but this tiny hamlet alongthe Rangeet hydel project seemsto have been given a go-by by thetourists who routinely pass it enroute to the more established des-tinations in west Sikkim. The lo-cals here want that changed andalso realize that they have to be-come much more professional ifthey want to tourism to take off intheir midst. And seeing similar ini-

EMPLOYMENTApplications are invited for the post of Lecturers inMathematics and Economics to be appointed onad-hoc basis on consolidated pay of Rs. 12,500 /-p.m.Candidates possessing Master’s Degree (with mini-mum of 55% or 50% for SC/ST) may apply to thePrincipal, Sikkim Government College, Tadong,within a week from the date of advertisement innewspaper.The interview will be held on 16.09.2003 at 11.00a.m. in the office of Special Secretary, Departmentof Education, Govt. of Sikkim, Candidates shall re-port with original documents. No individual callingletter will be issued.

PrincipalSikkim Government College

Tadong.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK: The Sikkim Archery Association has decided to send ateam of Under-18 archers from the State to the 26th Junior NationalArchery Championship scheduled to be held between 19 to 24 Septem-ber next month in Amritsar, Punjab.

An Association meeting held at the residence of the UD&HD Minis-ter, TT Bhutia, who is also the president of the SAA also resolved tohold a selection camp here to choose the Sikkim contingent.

This selection camp, it is learnt, will be commence on 6 September atthe TNSSS ground here and go on till 13 September. The selection trialswill be conducted by the team manager Dr. KB Gurung and archerycoaches Jigme Lepcha and Thupden Rongkup.

SAA readies local archers

for junior nationals

The Kuste Shegu, 49th dayof Late (Miss) JamyangPalzang Lachungpa falls onFriday, August 29th 2003. Allrelatives, friends and wellwishers are requested tojoin us for the Prayer Cer-emony at our residence atGangtok, near Ruchi Diag-nostic Centre on the abovedate.

We also take this oppor-tunity to thank all those whostood by us during the timeof bereavement and regretour inability to thank themindividually.

Nedup Lachungpa(father), Panzom

Lachungpa (mother),Karma Lachungpa (son),

Palzor Lachungpa (uncle)

Kutse SheguThe Kuste Shegu (49th

Day) of Late TsewangThupden Bhu t ia (16 )falls on, Friday Septem-ber 12th 2003. All friends,well wishers and rela-t ives are requested tojo in us for the PrayerCeremony at our resi-dence at 5th mile, nearSaraswat i Mand i r,Tadong, Gangtok on theabove date.

We also take this oppor-tunity to thank all those whostood by us during the timeof bereavement and regretour inability to thank themindividually.

K.D.Bhutia (father) M&G,Chumsang Kachopa

(mother) SBS

Kutse Shegu

a NOW! pic

Legship NGO wants tourism training, tootiatives taken at Uttarey where tourand trekking guides were trainedrecently, Legship residents toowant better training to prepare atourism action plan of their own.An action plan which will help sellLegship the right way and equipthem with the tools to earn posi-tive word-of-mouth so necessaryfor sustained tourist inflow.

“Compared to Pelling andGeyzing, we get hardly any tour-ists in Legship. We haven’t thefaintest notion of what tourismactually is and so we have re-quested the TAAS president,Paljor Lachungpa, to hold a train-ing programme similar to what was

organized at Uttaray,” said MBPradhan. Mr. Pradhan is a memberof Manav Seva Samiti of Legship,an NGO which forms part of theLegship Tourism DevelopmentCommittee and is also the organi-zation entrusted with running theboating facilities here.

Boating, incidentally, was in-troduced in the hydel projct reser-voir on 25 November last year, butis yet to strike a chord with thetourism industry. Barely 3 kmsfrom Legship bazaar, a boatingoption in a hill State where mostlakes are either too holy to allowrowers or too remote should havebeen a big it, but is not. Mr. Prad-

han feels that this is so because ithas not been advertised wellenough and in the right places.

He also maintained that thepicnic spot near the boating areaneeds to be beautified to make itmore appealing to visitors. He isconfident that such measures cou-pled with some professional train-ing could make things work for

Legship.“I am an unemployed youth

as are most others involved in theLegship Tourism Developmentcommittee. If the government couldorganize training programmes ontourism for us, all of us can be prof-itably self-employed,” he main-tains.

An idea well worth a try.

a NOW REPORT

The hand that rocks the cradle has started ruling thegovernment,” said one of

the 2,000 Cheli Morchas gatheredat Rani Maidan, Maharanitar,Rumtek on 26 August, Tuesday,to participate at the Cheli MorchaSammelan organized by the JanjatiKalyan Cheli Morcha here. Wom-en’s empowerment under thepresent regime was the theme ofthe day.

The chief guest for the occa-sion was Kalawati Subba,Speaker, Legislative Assembly,while other guests included KTGyaltsen, area MLA and Minis-ter for Tourism, KB Chamling,Minister Food & Civil Supplies,DT Lepcha, Minister for For-ests, Dorjee Namgyal, Chair-man, Tourism ,Uday Lama,Chairman Poultry, RinzingOngmu, former Minister, Zillaand Panchayat members andconveners of the Cheli Morcha.

Addressing the gathering, Mr.Gyalsten said that the day was his-

A dharna was staged by the AllSikkim Scheduled Caste WelfareAssociation [ASSCWA] and the AllSikkim Democratic ScheduledCaste Welfare Fronton 26 August, Tuesday, in Gang-tok, to condemn an article printedin a Nepali daily published fromSiliguri.According to association mem-bers, the article which mentionsthe Scheduled Caste in a deroga-tory manner has hurt thesentiments of the community. Therally of around 200 protestorsstarted from 2 pm at the Titanicpoint.

SDF women discussempowerment

toric as it was organized in the hon-our of women.

“The rights to be given towomen is the party’s responsibil-ity. In turn, it is up to the womento keep Sikkim united and create agood future for the coming genera-tions,” he added.

In her speech, Ms. Subba reit-erated that it was the job of theCheli Morcha to protect and pre-serve the party. “The Chief Min-ister has touched the hearts of theSikkimese people with his com-mitment towards social develop-ment,” she reiterated.

Kalawati Subba, Speaker, Legislative Assembly and KT Gyaltsen, Minister,

Tourism at the Cheli Morcha Sammelan.

Class Struggle

12; NOW! August 27-02 September, 2003

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Choice International, Daragaon. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Now! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

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GEYZING: The west district head-quarters had been at the centre of acommunal vortex for the past cou-ple of months and was in desper-ate need of some lighter, entertain-ing moments. Not easy options tocome by. But the escape offereditself in the form of some excellentsoccer as part of the 2nd CouncilorLt. Bhim Bahadur Subedi Memo-rial Gold Cup which concludedwith the Independence Day cel-ebrations here. Footballers fromreputed clubs and institutionsdonned jerseys of local teams tooffer locals here a glimpse of someprofessional soccer.

RDD Contractors XI [whicheventually lifted the trophy], forexample, had brought in the entiresquad of the Mohun Bagan-SAILUnder-17 team from Durgapur,Kolkata, to play at Geyzing. Thisteam of energetic future footballstars was spurred on by its chiefcoach, famous Indian international,Shyam Pradhan, who was alsopresent at Geyzing. Employees XIrecruited players from UKFC,Kurseong, to strike for them whilesome local imports were also seenin the Bazaar XI team which hadsigned on players from D’ZongreeClub to wear its colours. ManavSewa Samiti of Legship partici-pated in the tourney with the Gur-kha Brigade contingent.

The finals, played on 15 Au-gust, saw RDD Contractors XIclash with he Manav Sewa SamitiXI. The match ended in favor ofRDD Contractors XI 1-0. VinodPradhan of MSS XI bagged the man-of-the-match award for the finalswhile the man-of-the-series trophywent to Siddharth Thapa playingfor the RDD Contractor’s team.The tourney also offered locals thechance to watch Sikkim’s latestBaichung export [Tashiding’sBhaichung Bhutia who was signedrecently by Mohun Bagan for itsU-17 squad] in action.

Tournaments organized at alocal level are also more than justabout entertainment. They arealso about showcasing local tal-ent. The tourney at Geyzing didwell on this count, as ShyamThapa, shortisted five local play-ers for enrolment in he MohunBagan-SAIL football academythat he coaches. Kigen Bhutia ofD’Zongree Club who was play-ing for Bazaar XI was so impres-sive on the field that he has beenasked to report to the FootballAcademy immediately. Realisingthat Geyzing tournaments weremore than just exposures for hiswards, but also a fruitful talent-search expedition, Mr. Thapa isreported to have assured the or-ganizers that he will be bringinghis team to Geyzing n a moreregular basis. He has alreadyconfirmed his team’s participa-

t ion in the upcomingKhangchendzonga Gold Cupscheduled for some time in Oc-tober at Geyzing.

Commenting on the reasonsbehind the grand scale of the tour-ney this year, the organizers in-form that the purpose behind thetourney was two-fold – one, topromote communal harmony byuniting the people with sports, andto, to keep the memory of Lt.Bhim Bahadur Subedi [father of theTransport Minister, SB Subedi],who an executive councilor in1967. “With such ambitions, itwould not have been fair to com-promise on the scale,” the organiz-ers state.

All together, ten teams vied forthe Gold Cup which included acash award of Rs. 25,000 for thewinning team and Rs. 15,000 forthe runners-up.

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Sikkim Football Association2nd SFA All-Sikkim Women’s

Football TournamentSikkim Football Association will conduct the 2nd SFAAll Sikkim Women’s Football Tournament 2003 atBhaichung Bhutia Stadium, Namchi, from the sec-ond week of September, 2003.The entry forms, will be available on payment of Rs.200 from the Office of the Joint Director (South /West), Sports & Youth Affair Deptt., Namchi.The last date of receipt of forms complete in all as-pects will be 10 September 2003.

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