SPYF alleged the state government and Department of forest and wildlife for neglecting the concerns of the common citizens and working for just the group of elites in a press conference held today at Gangtok.
Rupen Karki General Secretary, SPYF stated that “The illegal sand mining in rivers and felling of trees in forests of Sikkim is being done in a rampant manner for which we condemn and demand the concerned department to initiate proper actions”.
Furthermore, Karki also stressed about this kind of activity of not being new in the state of Sikkim. “It also happened in the past under the former government but the frequency has increased under the present government”, added Karki.
“After we approached the DC west and DFO the sand mining was shit down at College Khola of the West Sikkim and the company involved was fined Rs 48000 and the same kind of illegal sand mining was taking place in Rorathang in which we saw that the JCB machines were recklessly used in the river and in connection to that the course of river is changing which in near future can create artificial disaster”
Why is the government numb against illegal sand mining? We urge the state government to close down the illegal sand mining. The state government has been fooling common people in name of development” questioned Karki
Shankar Sharma Member SPYF alleged the forest department of not being transparent and working recklessly, ” Trees are being chopped down all over the state and the Forest department has not been transparent enough”
“Why is the forest department not showing the revenue generated through the tree felling?” Questioned Sharma
SPYF also demanded that there should be a revision of Minimum Daily Wage per person in the state, in which he said, ” In today’s context the prices of daily use commodities and essential are hiking but the daily wage of the people are stuck in Rs 300 per day”
“With this minimum wage people are not able to fulfil their basic needs, when a person works for 8-10 hours a day they should be able to pay their medical bills, food however it has been really hard for them to do so” said Sharma
“The present SKM government in their election manifesto mentioned that ‘equal pay for equal work’ so we suggest the govt to implement this and revise the daily wage”
Lekhak Sharma, Member SPYF on road condition and transportation said, ” The road condition including the national highway is in pathetic condition, for instance, if one patient is to be brought from Gyalsing hospital till Gangtok the road condition is very bad and it is of concern”
In addition, SPYF demanded that SNT buses which is used for companies should be used for public transport” The buses which are used in companies should rather be used for public transportation so that it can be easier for the public to commute”
Along with that SPYF appealed that there should reduction in fines imposed by the Motor Vehicle Division, “if one driver forgets his pollution test certificate in the home he is also fined amount of RS 10000, the fines should be looked into and should be decreased”
