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.