• Sujal Pradhan, NET Correspondent, Sikkim 

The Sikkim Legislative Assembly (SLA) today passed the First Supplementary Demands for Grants worth of Rs. 30455.34 lakh for the financial year 2021-22 during the Fifth Session (Part II) of the Tenth Assembly.

According to IPR report, the First Supplementary Demands for Grants 2021-22 of Rs. 30455.34 lakh was passed by the House to meet gross additional expenditure after it was moved for consideration and passing by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang-Golay, also the Minister-in-Charge of Finance Department, during the Financial Business of the session.

Subsequently, the House also passed the Sikkim Appropriation Bill, Bill No. 01 of 2022 for the First Supplementary Demands for Grants, relating to the Financial Year 2021-22 which was moved for consideration by the CM.

“The Sikkim Appropriation Bill is introduced in pursuance of clause (1) of Article 204 read with Article 205 of the Constitution of India to provide for the appropriation from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the State of Sikkim of the money required to meet the expenditure charged in the Consolidated Fund of the State of Sikkim and Supplementary Grants made by the Sikkim Legislative Assembly for the expenditure of the Government of Sikkim for the remaining part of the financial year 2021-22.” – informed the report.

Its worthy to note that during the Legislative Business held earlier, as many as 2 bills were introduced in the House by the concerned Ministers-in-Charge :

1) Chief Minister, Prem Singh Tamang, who is also the Minister-in-Charge of the Home Department, introduced the Sikkim Police (Amendment) Bill, 2022. (Bill No. 02 of 2022).

The State Government has deemed it expedient to assign and empower the Sikkim Police Accountability Commission to perform the functions of Welfare Officer and Welfare Committee by bringing amendment in section 132 and section 152 of the Sikkim Police Act, 2008.With this object in view, the Bill has been framed.

2) Minister of Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Kunga Nima Lepcha, introduced the Sikkim (Re-organization of Districts) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Bill No. 03 of 2022).

The Sikkim (Re-Organisation of Districts) Act, 2021 (Act No 15 of 2021) was notified vide Gazette Notification No 26/L&PAD/2021 dated 13.12.2021. In terms of the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 1 and vide Notification No.50/LR&DMD/ACQ/GOS dated 20/12/2021, the said Act came into force on 21st December 2021.

In sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the Sikkim (Re-Organisation of Districts) Act, 2021, the words Rangpo Sub-Division and Rongli Sub-Division has been inadvertently left out. Hence it has been felt expedient to insert the words “Rangpo Sub-Division and Rongli Sub-Division” in sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the said Act. With this object in view, this Bill has been framed.

However, the discussions for consideration and voting of these two Bills will be held in the next sitting.

Thereafter, the House was also informed regarding the withdrawal of the Wildlife (Protection) Act (Amendment) Bill, Bill No. 21 of 2018 by Minister of Forest and Environment Department, Karma Loday Bhutia.

Later, the Chief Minister, also the Minister-in-Charge of Finance Department, tabled two Separate Audit Reports on the floor namely:

i) Separate Audit Reports on the Accounts of Sikkim Power Investment Corporation Limited for the year ended 31 March, 2019 & 2020.

(ii) Separate Audit Report on the Accounts of Sikkim Power Development Corporation Limited for the year ended 31st March, 2020.

Likewise, the Chief Minister who is also the Minister-in-Charge of Finance Department presented and tabled the following reports under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act:

i) Half Yearly Review Report: 2021-22, Review of the Trends in Receipt and Expenditure in relation to Budget 2021-22.

ii) Evaluation Report of Compliance to Provision of Sikkim FRBM Act Fiscal year 2018-19.