Sikkim: Chamling announces capacity building institutes

Gangtok, 6 OCT: Expressing concern over the lack of enthusiasm among the local people to take up private enterprises, Sikkim chief minister Mr Pawan Kumar Chamling (in picture) today announced that capacity building institutes would be set up in each Assembly segment of the state, by December this year.

Each Assembly segments must have a functional capacity building institutes by the year end and the authorities should hire accommodation on rent for the purpose in the event of unavailability of government premises, he said at the consultative meeting on the capacity building.

Once the capacity building institutes did come up, it should be the endeavour of the area MLAs and the local administration to bring the unemployed people there to take up training to hone their skills in order to make themselves self employed, Mr Chamling said.

Stating that there was abundance of professional opportunities already available in Sikkim and many more in the pipeline in the years to come, the chief minister regretted that the local people were not equipped skill wise to take up such jobs in the private sector.

Observing that unemployment could be one of the reasons behind the spurt in insurgency across the country, Mr Chamling today said the unemployed and unskilled youths of Sikkim will be trained under the capacity-building programmes to make them employable and enterprising so that they reject such separatist ideas.

“It is in the interest of the image of Sikkim as a peaceful and tranquil state that the local youths - unemployed and unskilled ones ~ remain involved in the ongoing development process to keep at bay negative thinking as is the case in other North-Eastern states,” he said referring to the insurgency in this region.

Directing the bureaucracy and the lawmakers to ensure the attendance of the unemployed and unskilled youths during the capacity building programmes in all assembly segments once the institutes become functional there in December end, Mr Chamling said insurgency could be kept at bay only by keeping the youths engaged in positive endeavour.

The key to containing insurgency lies in development and percolation of its fruits among the local people, the youths in particular...the bureaucracy and the lawmakers should take up the responsibility to help the youths to receive training under the ongoing capacity building programmes to reap the benefits of the development and employment opportunities available in Sikkim, he said.

Conference
About 400 participants from across the country will deliberate on “substance abuse and suicide” at the three-day national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) from October nine.

Hosted by Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) at Tadong, the delegates will dwell on various aspects of (drug) substance abuse and suicide from socio-economic and medical point of views, Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) Vice-Chancellor Brigadier (Rtd) SS Pabla said today.

The experts opinion on the twin vices will be relevant for Sikkim in particular, since the state has been dogged by the growth in the number of suicide cases over the years and its youths taking to abuse of banned substances.

Brig Pabla said representative of government hospitals, Primary Health Centres (PHCs), NGOs, have been invited to attend the conference to update themselves about various initiatives at the social-medical level against suicide and drug addiction.
Health minister Mr DN Takarpa will inaugurate the conference at the SMIMS premises.