“Government of Sikkim should immediately remove Chief Secretary, SC Gupta” – Albert Gurung, Reform Call
Albert Gurung has demanded the removal of Chief Secretary, SC Gupta (IAS) who faces serious allegations of corruption and appealed to set up an investigation at the earliest.
Gurung via a press statements said, “Corruption is a bane of our society. This evil has harmed us and our society for long time now. A corruption- free Sikkim was a major political plank of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha party (SKM) that is running the government now prior to coming to power. But, not much has been done by this government after coming to power and the general perception amongst the people is that there has been a exponential increase in the levels of corruption seen in the state in the last 3 years.”
He added, “The people of Sikkim had voted SKM to power with the hope that the party would end the culture of corruption in Sikkim rather it has institutionalised corruption. When a official of rank of Chief Secretary himself is involved in direct corruption, one can imagine the level of such practises in the hierarchy of government officials. Further, the most unfortunate part of the whole episode is that the Chief Minister of Sikkim is openly shielding the misdeed of Chief Secretary Sikkim in public. What can be more unfortunate than this? What has made our Chief Minister to perform such acts? These are some serious questions before him.”
Gurung demanding an investigation said, “In the last few days, a serious allegation of corruption has been levelled against the Chief Secretary to the Government of Sikkim Shri S.C. Gupta for indulging in land deals while not following duly laid procedures as per the standards protocols of All India Service Code (AIS) of seeking prior approval of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) Government of India.”
There has also been an allegation that while the entire world was reeling under the impact of Covid- 19 and the lockdown, the Chief Secretary may have mis utilised and misappropriated funds meant for relief activities. These are very serious charges and we urge that the concerned authorities look into this matter with utmost seriousness and assure a thorough and impartial investigation is made in the matter with utmost urgency. Further, we strongly demand that to assure impartiality in the investigation, the Chief Secretary should immediately be removed until the investigation is ongoing. Looking at the gravity of the matter, this is the least that the government must do to restore faith in the governance of the state.”
“Lastly, Reform Call extends its support and has full faith on Sikkim Nagarik Samaj (SNS) who are continuously raising issues in the larger interest of Sikkim and its people,” he concluded, supporting the stand taken by SNS in the matter
