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Sikkim based startup Himalayan O2 selected to receive grant of 25 lakhs

AIC-SMUTBI’s cohort of Startup Acceleration Program of North East (SAPNE 1.0) and the Himalayan Investors’ Meet Demo day held on…

By Sherab Palden Bhutia

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Two more species added to Sikkim checklist of birds

Two more species added to Sikkim checklist of birds

Birds have been the centre of attraction for study in understanding various complex ecological factors. They have been fairly well…

By SC Bureau

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Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) Organizes Webinar on “Dams on Sikkim: Boon or Bane?”
EnvironmentSC Stories

Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) Organizes Webinar on “Dams on Sikkim: Boon or Bane?”

The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) organized a webinar on “Dams in Sikkim: Boon or…

By SC Bureau
The notification from the Education Department, Government of Sikkim that announced mandatory interview for ad-hoc teaching positions was received with great hostility among the teachers who had been appointed in the year of 2020. This notification meant that they had to once again go through the interview and selection process as their contract came to an end. The State witnessed a large group of teachers gathering in protest against this decision at the capital on June 28, 2021. They demanded to be exempted from the interview for the same posts they had held till a month ago. One of the teacher in the protest said, “ we have already gone through the interview process last year, and again we have to sit for interview according to the notification” Further to which, SPYF were the first one to condemn the notification, SPYF made a press release on the incident on July 1 reminding the people of Sikkim that this was not the first time that ad-hoc teachers were taking to the streets to protest. Issues pertaining to ad-hoc teachers had always existed. The very idea of ad-hoc teaching positions gained prominence with the commercialization of education, and hence Institutions and Governments used it to seek employees at lesser pay scales. Ad-hoc teachers are mostly paid a per-class basis, and they are not entitled to any perks and privileges a regular/full-time employee would enjoy. And as ad-hoc teachers, there is always a sense of insecurity and instability that leaves the teachers silence and anxious. The issue raised by the ad-hoc teachers who were appointed in 2020, according to SPYF, is a simple case of harassment. If only new people were interviewed, it would still make sense; but to interview people who were selected and been serving in duty for a year seems to be the issue at concern. SPYF condemned this act by the government and also expressed its desire to witness a fair and transparent selection process. Another issue on which concern was expressed is the policy to regularize ad-hoc teachers who had completed eight years of uninterrupted service (as a one-time relaxation policy). The concern with this practice is that there will not be recruitment of permanent teachers then. SPYF feels such a practice would embolden the party in power to suppress any dissent whatsoever and monopolize political support in their favour. SPYF during their press release suggested certain measures in order to tackle the issue of ad-hoc teachers. They strongly condemned the notification that demanded existing ad-hoc teachers to go through the interview process over again and suggested the following measures. “Keep the ad-hoc recruitment to the minimum and conduct interviews for regular posts. Interview for permanent posts should be conducted every few years. And with the kind of inflation, we are going through, increase the salary of Ad-hoc employees and ensure that ad-hoc teachers are not forced to sit for the interview again and again for the same post.” added the statement
EducationSC Stories

“This was not the first time that ad-hoc teachers protested on streets”: SPYF

The notification from the Education Department, Government of Sikkim that announced mandatory interview for ad-hoc…

By Sherab Palden Bhutia

Yoga practitioner and yog guru Pankaj Uprety shares his yoga way of living

The main principles of yoga includes a connection with nature and the body-mind balance, which…

By Sherab Palden Bhutia
In conversation with Former CM Chamling on his idea of green policies and the politics of ecology
EnvironmentSC Stories

In conversation with Former CM Chamling on his idea of green policies and the politics of ecology

Former Chief Minister and the SDF President Shri Pawan Chamling explained how the SDF party’s…

By SC Bureau
Sikkim democratic Front, a regional party established in the year 1994 with the leadership of Pawan Kumar Chamling, the Chamling led sdf governed state of Sikkim for 24 years, during the tenure of Party they started many initiatives related to environment conservation and ecology. Ten minutes to earth is one among the list. Ten minutes to Earth was first started in the year 2009, since then every year in month of July Ten minutes to Earth is observed, according to the Department of forest in 2009, 610,694 saplings were planted on June 15, 2009, all over the state, this will help in sequestering of 1400 tons of carbon dioxide annually. This year, Ten minutes to earth was organized on June 25 by conducting a webinar due to Covid-19 pandemic, the theme of the 2021 Ten minutes to Earth was “Lessons for the Future” the webinar was participated by environmentalist, Ms. Sunita Narain, Director General of the Center of Science and Environment. Narain addressing the gathering said “What Sikkim has shown in 1998 and is important for us to showcase, even today, is not that the environment does not make for good development. In fact, what Sikkim showed very clearly is that the environment and development go together.” Furthermore, She mentioned that “ The SDF government stood for the conviction that for Sikkim, the basis for existence is the protection of the environment - but not just the protection of it, but also to use the environment for the development of a prosperous economy without damaging it” Meanwhile, Chamling during the Webinar mentioned that he believes in the conservation of nature is supreme and holds the key to the conservation of the living beings in the earth. Chamling on the vision of Ten minutes to Earth said “Ten Minutes to Earth, Heritage Tree, Mit Tree (ceremonial friendship with trees) and Tree Adoption were all a part of our vision for a Green Sikkim becoming the torch-bearer for a green world. Our innovations were not just political programs, but the outworking of our deep commitment to the environment. The nation and the world were keeping a close watch” Furthermore, in the year 1998 before even staring the Ten minutes to Earth innitave Pawan kumar Chamling was awarded with the greenest Chief Minister of India, Sikkim became the only state to have recorded an increase in forest cover (an increase of 4%). Likewise in the year 2015 Sikkim became the first organic state of India. Pawan K. Chamling, Former Chief Minister mentioning the significance of the green policies and the politics of ecology said “SDF party’s inherent green policies and the politics of ecology gave rise to number of innovative initiatives like Green Revolution Year, Green Revolution Decade, Smriti Van, Ten Minutes to Earth, Heritage Tree, Mit Tree and Tree Adoption. Ten Minutes to Earth, a mass forestation program was born out of the wedlock of our concern for the environment and politics of the environment. Ours is a political party whose constitution includes environment protection as a major political program.” “No development at the cost of the environment” was our mantra. We promoted clean power and clean industries. We closed down Sikkim Ferro Alloys Limited as it was causing huge pollution. As well, pharmaceutical companies that breach environmental norms have been closed. We wanted to inculcate environment appropriate behavior in Sikkim. We started the Smriti Van program with a view to making it a public movement. But it ended up becoming a government program. I had the vision of including every single citizen – from students to professors, from youth to retired professionals, from rural farmers to urban dwellers - people from all walks of life to be involved in this environment protection campaign.” Added Chamling Former CM Chamling mentioned that “the SDF party never gave up. We were able to organize a Ten Minutes to Earth program for the second year after being out of the government since 2019.”
EnvironmentSC Stories

Ten minutes to Earth: Sikkim’s Green Culture towards conservation of environment and ecology

Sikkim democratic Front, a regional party established in the year 1994 with the leadership of…

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