Civil Society News, New Delhi The small state of Sikkim, tucked away in the eastern Himalayas, is doing big things. By 2015 it will be India’s first wholly organic state. That’s not all. In two years, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling hopes to make Sikkim free of poverty, a significant achievement in a country where poverty declines at snail’s pace. What makes the Sikkim model unique is its growth strategy. Chamling has chosen for his mountain state the path of sustainable development. Under him, Sikkim has opted to be green, clean and inclusive. The sectors of the economy that have been prioritized for growth are organic agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, eco-tourism and hydro power. The state government has launched a series of measures to benefit from conservation. Everybody is encouraged to plant trees. And interestingly, Sikkim’s green economy hasn’t affected its GDP. In fact, the state has been growing consistently at a decadal figure of 12.26 per cent, the highest in the country. Not for nothing has Pawan Chamling’s Sikkim Democratic Front won four elections since 1994, emerging stronger every time and nailing the lie that parties lose elections because of anti-incumbency. Chamling wins because his policies are designed to meet the needs of people. His approach is strongly pragmatic. So, when it comes to hydro power and the revenue it will provide, he goes ahead with building dams. Sikkim spends more than any other state in India, or perhaps in the world, on education and health. There is universal sanitation and it is the only state where rural health infrastructure has been built. While other states are juggling various delivery mechanisms, Sikkim has managed to implement its policies. It was also the first to give 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayats. Chamling himself is from a village and understands rural poverty. He travels to the remotest hamlet, sometimes on foot, to listen to people and explain his policies. There is constant dialogue between the Chief Minister and them. For Chamling there is no contradiction between economic growth, the environment and people. “We want to be a laboratory on sustainable development for the world,” Chamling told Civil Society in an interview. You have worked to develop Sikkim into an eco-friendly, inclusive state. Where does your outlook come from? I am a politician. We work for the people and our perspective is local. When we came to power in 1994, Sikkim had no revenue and no innovative work had been done. We were completely dependent on grants from the Centre. We did not even have enough money to pay salaries. I was perplexed. How would we run the government? Sikkim has a location disadvantage. I thought: how can we turn this into an advantage? What does Sikkim have which distinguishes it from the rest of the world? Sikkim has rich natural resources that you will not find elsewhere. I decided to implement sustainable development based on our natural resources. I declared 1996 as the Year of the Green Revolution in Sikkim. We sent out a message to all our people that we must conserve our trees, birds, plants, aquatic and wild animals, our natural flora and fauna. Our Green Revolution sought to create harmony between humans and their environment. We made it a people’s programme. I explained to the people that the rich leave behind a big bank balance for their children. The poor can leave behind a different kind of bank balance – of a green environment. We could plant trees in our reserve forests and our children could inherit this legacy. After 20 years, a tree would be worth at least `1 lakh. Besides, our land would be fertile, its ecological balance would remain intact, and we would be protected from landslides. Sikkim would have a clean and green environment. The people liked my message hugely. They came forward, young and old, to support me. I started a second programme called Smriti Van. It is run by villagers and gram panchayats and extends from Gangtok to the smallest hamlet. Anybody, including a tourist, can go plant a tree in a Smriti Van. A record is created of who planted a tree in whose name. It could be in the name of a loved one or God. This too has become popular. In Gangtok itself we have a Smriti Van where you can plant a sapling. We also started eco-friendly tourism. We decided to make our forests and wildlife productive in a sustainable manner. Everywhere, people cut trees for money and kill animals for food. But we took a decision to protect and conserve our environment and increase our forest cover. We want to be a laboratory on sustainable development for the world. People can come to Sikkim and learn how people and the environment can live in harmony. The world has 18 biodiversity hotspots and Sikkim is one of them. We have also banned tree cutting in our state. No green felling is allowed. If somebody wants to cut a tree on his own land, he has to plant 20 trees in return. He does not have to pay the government anything. We totally banned grazing in forest areas. We are perhaps the first in the world to impose such a ban. But how have you managed to implement all this? We have implemented our policies successfully. But, it was very difficult. At first people were not happy about the ban. But soon they realized why it was essential and they began to support us. We have also completely banned killing of wildlife. If somebody kills wildlife, even a bird, he has to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakhs and serve one year in jail. Here too we are the first in the world. Ten Minutes for Earth is another programme we have started. Every year, on one day, all our people, including students, and government employees, come out and plant a tree. We provide the saplings. All our initiatives are green. The industries we have introduced are also green and clean. We are laying emphasis on eco-friendly tourism. Gangtok will soon have an international airport. Won’t that adversely affect eco-tourism? We will always protect eco-tourism and ensure its success. We have introduced environment education in our schools so that our children acquire a scientific temperament. An airport will boost tourism. We educate our people and explain our policies to them. I always say: ‘Janata ke raj mein, janata hi raja.’ The people are king and they should realise their rights and fulfill their responsibilities. You were the first to give women 50 per cent reservation in panchayats. What impact has this had on development? I believe that in politics you have to take all the people along. Unless women gain respect in society and become part of the development process, we will not progress. For years they have been seen as second-class citizens and not got their rights. When we formed the government I coined a slogan: “We will make women the owners of half the sky and half the earth. We will not rest till this objective is reached.” The women appreciated this. We gave them 50 per cent reservation in panchayats along with affirmative action. They have 30 per cent reservation in higher education and 30 per cent reservation in jobs. Property that is bought or sold has to be registered in the name of the wife and husband. We built institutions like a court for women. I also started a scheme for girls called Prerna Yojana. If any girl student comes first in any class at district or state level she gets Rs 3,000 per month as scholarship. I wanted girls to be competitive and due to this scheme they began to compete. We have introduced a Small Family Scheme. When a school going girl attains the age of 13, we put aside Rs 5,000 for her. When she passes Class 10 she gets a bonus. When she passes Class 12, she gets another bonus. A bonus is given when she graduates from college. If a girl marries at the age of 23 she gets a marriage bonus. But if she marries before 23, she doesn’t get this bonus. At the age of 50 after being a mother of two children she will get the entire sum of money. The idea behind this scheme is to encourage girls to go to school, join college, delay marriage and have a manageable family of two. They need to keep good health. That is why in Sikkim the ratio of girls in school is higher than boys. In government service too there are more women than men. This scheme has been very successful. The most empowered and free women are in Sikkim. They have progressed and are respected. Your government has boosted horticulture, floriculture and organic farming. These are all green sectors. How did you implement these policies? We introduced organic farming because it is environment friendly. Secondly, Sikkim is a hill state with small farms. We thought: how can we achieve high value, low volume agriculture? We zeroed in on organic farming. In 2003 we passed a resolution in the Assembly declaring that Sikkim would be an organic state. But our biggest problem was to convince the agriculture department. That alone took me all of two years. We had to explain organic farming to them. The secretary of agriculture/horticulture, Hare Ram Pradhan, was completely opposed to it. He said it could not be done. It hadn’t happened anywhere in the world. I found convincing bureaucrats to be my toughest job. I also had to convince the people. They were used to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Some opposition party members told them, this is against your interests. You will be ruined. I had to face these three hurdles. Also, no state had carried out such a programme. So we didn’t have a role model. We had to create our own policy and programme from scratch. It was innovative and very difficult. After convincing everybody – and this took three years – we trained our youth and officers in organic methods. We built a skilled workforce and sent them out to farms. Another problem was the lack of organic manure. But now we make organic manure and organic pesticides. We are today leaders in organic farming. In two years the entire state of Sikkim will be organic. Already, 90 per cent of our farms are organic. We will also get certification. Where will organic products sell? We are getting inquiries from the Netherlands, Germany and Argentina. I feel a deep sense of satisfaction. If there is one sector in our country that is rather backward, it is agriculture. Farmers, the producers of food, are themselves going hungry. This is a tragic irony. In Sikkim our poorest people used to be farmers too. But now their purchasing power is rising. I am confident that the most lucrative sectors in the state will be farming and horticulture. Farmers will sell whatever they grow. They are growing organic baby corn that has high demand. Ginger too. Sikkim is slated to be India’s first organic state. People from other states can learn from our example. This is the contribution of a small state to the nation. Are people from other states inquiring about Sikkim’s experience with going organic? Yes, people do come. But the state that has shown the most interest is Kerala. They are progressive and in touch with us. Our officials go there to provide consultancy. You are from a village yourself. Was it difficult to convince the people? People have faith in us. They know that what Pawan Chamling says, he does. The decisions he takes are the right ones. I always wanted to work for the people. I listen to their problems. I know very well what poverty is and its sorrows. I understand village life, the aam aadmi, and therefore what needs to be done. My family belong to the middle class in Sikkim. We owned land on which we grew cardamom. My family continues to farm. I have not forgotten my rural roots. When I read of farmer suicides, I feel saddened. I want to reach out to those farmers. What impact have your policies had on education, health and livelihood? In Sikkim we do not have extreme poverty. My target is by 2015 we will have a slum-free, poverty-free Sikkim with a literacy rate of 100 per cent and pucca housing for all. We are doing a lot for poorer children. In all government schools up to the college level, education is free. We spend 20 per cent of our budget on education – the highest in the world and in the country. Currently, our literacy rate is 83 per cent. On healthcare we spend 15 per cent and we are also doing a lot. We do a complete health check up for all citizens under a programme called Catch (Comprehensive Annual and Total Check-up for a Healthy Sikkim). I think in livelihood a lot of change has come about. All our programmes are result-oriented. In 2003 we started a Capacity Building Institute and 41 Livelihood Schools with a Directorate. Can you tell us about this initiative? Actually this institute and the livelihood schools are the first of their kind in India. Any school dropout can enroll and get trained. We have a wide range of options – from driving a car, becoming a beautician, an electrician, carpenter, flower decorator to running a dairy, a fishery, or a horticulture farm. We want our children to be a highly skilled human resource. The state sponsors our graduates or post-graduates if they want to specialize or study further. Youth must be employable, skilled and fulfill the expectations of the job market. We are also preparing them to meet the needs of the local job market. For example, we need trained hotel personnel and professionals for our services sector. Sikkim was planning to build several dams. There was an agitation against this. You cancelled some of those dams. Can you tell us your perspective? Sure. I read in the newspapers that West Bengal has a debt of Rs 2 lakh crores. Many states have debt. So our state too has debt to the Central government. Out of our grants from the Central government, 10 per cent are loans. These loans will keep increasing and so will our debt. We can’t just do nothing. So we thought, we have water. It is a resource. We decided to implement hydro- power projects. Eighteen of them are under construction. Once completed, in five years, we will be debt-free. In fact, Sikkim will be India’s first debt-free state. Ninety per cent of our 18 hydro-power projects are underground. Only seven families will be displaced. Yes, there will be some damage to the environment. We have tried our best to reduce the environmental impact. If we have to cut 2,000 trees we will plant 20 per cent more to make up. What I have done rightly or wrongly is for the interest of my state and its people, in good faith. We are doing hydro-projects in PPP mode. The government has a 26 per cent stake and we are in control. If all our projects work out, Sikkim will be India’s greenest and cleanest state, manageable and strong.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 06:54:18 +0000
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