CM announces insurance policy for drivers,
reduction in PUC fine
GANGTOK,: Chief Minister PS Golay on Friday announced reduction in Pollution
Under Control (PUC) fine, insurance policy for drivers and other initiatives
aimed for the welfare for Sarathis (drivers) in Sikkim. He was speaking at the
Sarathi Samman Diwas organised by the Transport department here at Manan
Kendra.
In his
address, the Chief Minister said the fine for operating vehicles without a PUC
certificate was previously set at Rs. 10,000. It is now reduced to Rs. 500 but
if the PUC certificate is not produced within 15 days, the fine will revert to
Rs. 10,000, he said.
The Chief
Minister said the government-constituted All Sikkim Sarathi Welfare Board will
soon facilitate the issuance of insurance policies for all drivers. “During our
election campaign, we had promised to provide medical and life insurance to all
the taxi drivers from this year. I request all the drivers to submit their
required documents to the All Sikkim Sarathi Welfare Board,” he said.
From this
year onwards, drivers with Sikkim voter card holders would be allowed to drive
luxury taxi vehicles, announced the Chief Minister. He also launched the Sikkim
Cab App, which he said, will revolutionize taxi booking through an online
system and enhance earning opportunities for taxi drivers.
Regarding
the Reciprocal Transport Agreement with West Bengal, Golay said the Sikkim
government is in the process of establishing a new Reciprocal Transport
Agreement with the West Bengal government, which will increase the quota of
taxi vehicles from Sikkim, benefiting the transport operators.
“In this
financial year, we have decided to facilitate 400 taxi vehicles to the drivers
who are operating others’ vehicles. A total of 100 taxi vehicles under this
scheme would be allotted to the All Sikkim Sarathi Welfare Board and remaining
300 vehicles would be awarded by the government and the party,” said the Chief
Minister. He added that the government will not directly purchase the taxi
vehicles but will make the down payment and issue it so that ownership of the
vehicle stands.
Golay
further announced that parking plazas will be developed at Deorali, Tadong and
Ranipool under an ADB project with the Urban Development department to initiate
the construction. More parking plazas are being planned for other areas to
address the parking issue in the State, he said.
The Chief
Minister shared that the State government is forming more welfare boards
catering to various sections of the society like sports, culture & arts and
retired employees. In the coming Budget session, Rs 1 crore is being allocated
to each welfare board, he said.
In his
address, the Chief Minister lauded the ‘Vikshit Bharat 2047’ vision of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and urged the people of Sikkim including the Chalaks to
extend all support to make the vision of ‘Vikshit Bharat’ and ‘Vikshit Sikkim’
a reality. He added that a yearlong celebration would be held to mark Sikkim
completing 50 years of being an integral part of the Indian Union.
The golden
jubilee celebration of Sikkim Statehood Day will be held from August 15, 2024
to May 2025, said the Chief Minister, adding that he has invited the Prime
Minister to attend the celebration during his recent meeting. Once the
programme is scheduled, I will further place an official invitation to the
Prime Minister to visit Sikkim for the historic Golden Jubilee celebration, he
said.
The Chief
Minister also welcomed and thanked the Chalak associations of Darjeeling,
Kalimpong, Teesta, Siliguri, Tar Khola and other areas for extending service to
Sikkim and for their help at times of need. We are always there to extend all
possible support, he said.
At the
programme, the Chief Minister handed away government ex-gratia to accident
victims and the Best Sarathi Award.
Sarathis
whose children achieved gazette posts, studying MBBS, BDS and PhDs, the best
performing drivers of bus, truck and tankers under SNT, the senior-most
government driver, senior-most taxi driver (Sarathi), drivers and associations
contributing to the society, and drivers associations of West Bengal were also
felicitated on the occasion.
All Sikkim
Sarathi Welfare Board chairman Sonam Ongdup Bhutia expressed his gratitude to
the Chief Minister and the State government for taking welfare measures for the
drivers like financial support for their children’s education, housing scheme,
employment for their children and house up-gradation scheme.
Since
2022, we have been facilitating vehicles to the Chalaks and this year we are
providing WagonR to the identified 12 drivers – two from every district,
informed the chairman. He urged the drivers to be a part of ‘Team Sikkim’ and
render all support for the State’s development.
The
programme was also addressed by MLA Sanjeet Kharel (Chalak Morcha in-charge)
and Transport department Advisor Madan Cintury.
The event
was attended by Speaker MN Sherpa, Deputy Speaker Raj Kumari Thapa, ministers,
MLAs, Advisors, Chalak Welfare Boards executives, members and representatives
from various drivers’ associations across all the six districts of the State.
