Sikkim Democratic Front accuses state government of neglecting Organic Mission
Jan 18, 2024
Gangtok (Sikkim) [India], January 18 : The Sikkim Democratic Front party commemorating the 8th anniversary of Sikkim Organic Day on Thursday, condemned the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha government for having 'completely ignored the Organic Mission' of Sikkim for the past 5 years.
SDF party, led by former Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, initiated the organic mission through a legislative proposal in 2003, with the State finally being declared an organic State by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 18 2016 during his visit to Sikkim.
Addressing a press conference at their party headquarters, SDF spokesperson Bandana Bhattarai shared, "The current government is treating organic mission as SDF's project, a personal project by Pawan Chamling but it was the state's project. It was for the farmers. The current government is saying that awards won by Sikkim for organic endeavours have been bought; they have ignored organic missions for the past 5 years.".
SDF further condemned, "It was only after the central government approved a budget for organic farming that they started focusing on the organic mission. To the extent that in 2022, SKM claimed to have done better work for organic missions than even the SDF during our regime. But the ground reality is different; in the past five years, the number of farmers has decreased and so have cultivable lands".
SDF also claimed that when Union Ministers come to Sikkim, they praise Sikkim for its organic mission, leaving the current government red-faced, said the SDF.
SDF's Farmer's Front representative Sharad Khadka said, "We can guarantee that no work has been done for the organic mission. There is no action to many of their promises towards organic mission under this government. They do not understand farmer's grievances including the lumpy virus skin disease in cattle. The compensation supposed to reach farmers is not sufficient, even for cattle feeding.".
SDF party boasted of putting 76,000 hectares of cultivable lands in Sikkim under the organic mission. While claiming that after forming the government they would put all their focus on the revival of Organic Mission.
