HT Bureau
Gangtok, Aug 17: State level Independence Day program 2022 of Sikkim was organised at Bhaichung Stadium, Namchi, South Sikkim. The program began with the unfurling of the national flag, national salute and review of the Independence Day parade by chief minister Prem Singh Tamang.
On the occasion chief minister Tamang launched the online permit system for Sikkim Aam Sashaktikaran Yojana, Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana, Segway Electric Scooters, Restricted Area Permit (RAP) and Protected Area Permit (PAP).
In his address, chief minister Tamang congratulated the people of Sikkim and the country, as well as explained in detail about the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi and the tricolour campaign of Har Ghar. He also paid tribute to the national stalwarts who fought for the freedom of our great nation.
The chief minister announced that the State Government would soon formulate a policy that would extend the maternity leave for other Government employees to one year from the existing six months on par with the recently notified maternity leave for teachers.
He told about the chief minister Internship Scheme, which has been started recently, where 100 new college/university graduates from various departments/PSUs will be added. He said that ambulances have also been given to all the colleges of the State. Vehicles will be made available to schools located in rural areas for their convenience.
Talking about the health sector, the chief minister said that tremendous progress has been made in the development of promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care for the people of Sikkim. He also said that capacity building, manpower placement and comprehensive services delivery have improved manifold through 148 sub-centres, 24 PHCs, 2 CHCs, 4 district hospitals and 1 State multi-specialty hospital. He said that Sikkim has become the first State to achieve 100% target of first dose vaccination to eligible age group persons with minimum vaccine losses. In the field of tourism, the chief minister said that proper infrastructure is necessary for the development of any economy and tourism.
The chief minister outlined various welfare initiatives of the State Government and launched the Sikkim Aama Sashaktikaran Yojana (SASY). He has also launched Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana and distributed referrals/letters/advance checks to the beneficiaries. State government has launched this unique scheme to provide financial assistance to the childless couples of Sikkim. For the academic year 2021-2022, PhD candidates will receive the Nar Bahadur Fellowship Scheme. For this an amount of Rs 33,85,485 has been approved as  course expenses, accommodation, flight tickets and return flight tickets. The Independence Day celebrations were marked by various cultural programmes, bands and drill performances by various schools in the district.
