CHAMLING TO BRING TAX RELIEF FOR OLD SETTLERS

SIKKIM: Chamling to bring tax relief for old settlers

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Gangtok, May 21: After returning to power for the fourth time, Pawan Chamling will now try to bring cheers to the old settlers in the state.

The chief minister said he would work for providing income tax exemption to the old settlers, comprising mostly the traders, who had been left out of the facility.

“We have started working towards this as the SDF had promised before the elections. We have already started the paper work,” Chamling said following the first cabinet meeting of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) government, a day after taking oath.

Last year, central income-tax relief was granted to those who have Sikkim Subject Certificates, an instrument of identification given by the Chogyals to the people. But the non-Sikkimese — about 30,000 people are in this segment and many of them have been around since the time of the king — were not included in the exemption.

S.K. Sarda, the president of the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, has expressed his happiness over Chamling’s announcement. “This is a great news for us and we are grateful to the chief minister. The business community voted the SDF for an absolute mandate,” he said.

Among the other proposals passed by the cabinet was reservation for Bhutia-Lepchas in the panchayats, government services and in the higher education. Chamling said the Bhutias and the Lepchas comprised 20 per cent of the state’s population and the reservation would be implemented for them. Reservations for OBCs would be 21 per cent and for the Limboos and Tamangs would be 14 per cent in the same fields.

Chamling announced health insurance for all Sikkimese people and bank accounts for every housewife, as promised in the SDF manifesto. “The cabinet has also decided to open a grievance cell for each department,” he said.

The chief minister made a special reference to the verdict given by the voters of Dzongu, a Lepcha reserve and the hotbed of anti-hydel plant protests. “The protests in Dzongu now turns out to be sponsored by vested interests as the people there had voted for the SDF. The verdict is a referendum for the power projects,” he said.