Sikkim : Budget 2022-23 Discussion Aimed To Target SDF Government; Asserts Former CM Pawan Chamling's Daughter

Sikkim : Budget 2022-23 Discussion Aimed To Target SDF Government; Asserts Former CM Pawan Chamling’s Daughter

4th April 2022

NET Web Desk

Komal Chamling, the daughter of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) Chief – Pawan Chamling castigated the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) government for its baseless allegations and “deliberately crafting” the discussion of Budget 2022-23, with an intent to make personal attacks on former CM Pawan Chamling and blame the previous SDF government.

Its worthy to note that Komal was the project director of Educational Quality Improvement Programme (EQUIP), which is accused of failing to present any data to the State government after receiving National Education Council (NEC) financing.

During recent budget deliberations, CM P.S. Golay stated that if any citizen requests an investigation, the State government is willing to do so because EQUIP’s programme management section has not yet provided the State government with any project data.

Responding to the same, Komal mentioned that its “highly disgraceful” that the Chief Minister would bring up such a matter for no other reason than a personal assault.

“The project, which lasted from 2016 to 2018, had nothing to do with the Sikkim Government’s current budget for 2022-23, but it was brought up during the budget session to smear Pawan Chamling by making spurious claims against me, a member of his family.” – asserted Komal.

“The debate session was meticulously designed to level personal attacks against Pawan Chamling, to blame the SDF government, and to shift public attention away from the SKM government’s absolute failure since 2019,” Komal further stated.

Everyone from former HRD minister R.B. Subba, current additional chief secretary G.P. Upadhyaya, all HRD directors then, and all members of the steering committee, executive board, and programme management unit are responsible for the EQUIP initiative, according to Komal.

She believes the government should launch an investigation into the EQUIP project right away, involving all members.

“The HRDD launched the project to build change agents inside the educational system, establish a culture of collaboration and learning among educators, and strengthen primary school education through reading and numeracy interventions. The pilot programme was carried out in eight government senior secondary schools, with the scale-up phase expected to affect 120 schools.” – she declared.

“The steering committee was the key group in charge of overseeing, making major policy decisions, and approving the project’s execution. Nothing was done on the project without the steering committee’s consent and leadership. G.P. Upadhyaya, member secretary of the steering committee, had the authority to approve any funds exceeding Rs 1.5 lakh. The steering committee convened on a quarterly basis to monitor the project’s progress,” Komal further added.