Chamling raises pension for national awardeess, introduces one for journalists in Sikkim

SUJAL PRADHAN, EOI, Gangtok, 17 Nov 2018 : Sikkim has joined the mainstream lately and has become part of North East Council later than other states but still it has achieved a decent pace of development, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling said in Gangtok on Friday. “This has happened due to the peaceful environment created by our government. In our government we have not let incident like Gauri Lankesh to happen. This shows that the environment for journalists is good.”

Chamling was speaking on the occasion of the National Press Day that was observed at Chintan Bhavan. The event was organized by the Information and Public Relations Department.

Chamling advised media practitioners to uphold responsible journalism to help bring betterment in the lives of the people. “The freedom of speech and expression enable journalists to communicate their views freely to the people, and what they express becomes information and fact for the people. It is, therefore, imperative for all journalists to understand their responsibility in disseminating information that is based only on fact,” the chief minister said.

"The press and media, as a fourth pillar of democracy, have equal responsibility as the other three organs of government - legislature, executive and judiciary. Keeping up this responsibility in mind, in order to bring betterment in the lives of the people," Chamling said. Journalists must never go against the ethics of journalism by being biased or by concealing the truth, he added.

The Chief Minister handed away the first state sponsored Y. N. Bhandari Journalism award and Positive Journalism grants to five journalists. The recipient of the first Y N Bhandari award was Bhim Rawat, Editor, Himalayan Darpan, Sikkim Page.

The five journalist who received Positive Journalism grant were: Dichen Ongmu Bhutia ( Sikkim Express), Khagendra Mani Pradhan ( Aaj ko Sikkim), Bikash Chettri ( Summit Times) , Jagan Dahal ( Samay Dainik) and Sushma Mangar (Himali Deepanjali, Weekly).

The Chief Minister in his address declared pension for senior journalists of the state and the construction of a new Press Bhawan which would be built by the State Government.

The Chief Minister also announced that pension for Sahitya Academy Awardees would be doubled,Padmashree awardees would get Rs 10,000 per month,Padma bhusan awardees Rs 15,000 and Padmavibushan awardees Rs 20,000 as pension respectively.