NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 7: Sikkim’s Pawan Chamling, the longest serving Chief Minister of a state in India, said “compulsory incorporation of environment education in the school curriculum will be an apt start” in inculcating nature conservation and sustainable development.
Chamling, who is currently serving his 5th consecutive term since he was elected in 1999, was speaking at the ministerial session of the ongoing 1st World Sustainable Development Summit held under the aegis of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) here at the national capital on Thursday night.
Stating that human-environment conflict is the biggest hurdle in the way of sustainable development, the 66-year-old Chief Minister of the Himalayan state said, “Students are the most powerful agents of change and they are also the future leaders who will take the baton from us.”
Urging the masses to change the ‘consumption-oriented life style’ to a ‘thought-oriented life-style’, Chamling who was once given ‘Greenest Chief Minister of India’ title through a country-wide poll, appealed to start aligning the thoughts and behaviour with nature conservation to “turn this planet into a safe place for all living beings” by introducing “environmental purity back to our sick earth.”
On Thursday, President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the ‘Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2016’ to Chamling in recognition of his vision and leadership in environment and sustainable development leading to the establishment of Sikkim as the first and only organic State in the country according to the citation presented by TERI on this occasion.
Chamling is the 12th recipient of the Award which was conferred annually on eminent individuals engaged in encouraging global initiatives that can lead the world towards a sustainable future.
Apart from becoming its capital Gangtok as cleanest hill city this year, Sikkim which became India’s 1st Nirmal Rajya, cleanest state in 2008, is the only State in India to have attained the official status of fully organic State in January 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the official announcement during his maiden visit to the State.
Sikkim which has around 75,000 hectares of certified organic farms over the years following the guidelines as prescribed by National Programme for Organic Production, contributes around 80,000 tonnes organic production out of total 1.24 million tonnes of organic production recorded in India and its is termed the safest the most peaceful state in India.
This Himalayan state is the first state in the country to ban grazing, wildlife killing, use of plastic and styrofoam products besides sales and bursting of crackers, was also selected by the Lonely Planet as one of the top 10 places to be visited in 2014 too.
Sikkim wants ‘peace bonus’; CM says it has no air, rail links
New Delhi: Demanding a “peace bonus”, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling today appealed to the Centre to undertake more development initiatives in the Northeast, saying his state is yet to be connected by air and rail networks and condition of roads are pathetic.
Chamling sought “peace bonus” from the central government for remaining the most peaceful state in the country.
“There is no insurgency, no militancy, no violence in Sikkim. Our state is the most peaceful in the country. We should be given a peace bonus by the Central government,” he told reporters here.
In 2000, the Central government had given a “peace bonus” of Rs 182.45 crore to Mizoram for being the most peaceful state in the Northeast after decades of insurgency.
The Chief Minister said construction of an airport in Sikkim has been going on for years while no progress has been made in implementing the plans for connecting the Himalayan state with trains.
“Our only lifeline is road. But condition of roads are very pathetic. We urge the Central government to take more development initiatives in Sikkim as well as other Northeastern states,” he said.
The Chief Minister said Sikkim has tremendous potential to be the “Switzerland of India” and a “Ram Rajya” as it is blessed with tremendous beauty and natural resources but it needs help from the Central government. (PTI)
