BJP legislator terms 'Sikkim Public Demands Recovery Bill as 'draconian'

A day after the BJP legislator Dilli Ram Thapa termed the amendment of the Sikkim Public Demands Recovery Act a ‘Draconian Law’ during a discussion on the bill in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) party spokesperson, Jacob Khaling today i.e on Thursday, August 25, said that bills passed during the two-day long assembly session would strengthen the economy of Sikkim. 

Khaling said that these bills would help to check revenue leak-age and recover people’s money. He thanked all Members of the State Legislative Assembly for extending their support in passing these bills.

Addressing a press conference this afternoon, Mr. Khaling stated that the supplementary budget passed in the assembly session on 22nd and 23rd August would further boost the ongoing developmental works for Sikkim and its people. 

While mentioning that a legislator called the Sikkim Public Demands Recovery (Amendment) Bill ‘draconian’, Mr. Khaling stated, “If anyone calls it draconian then we take it positively in the interest of the people of Sikkim and it also matches the nature of our work.

"Since draconian means strong and stringent, that is what the law seeks to do," he clarified. He stated that the earlier government was only after people who have taken small loans from the State Bank of Sikkim to build their houses or to start small businesses in the last 25 years but no effort was made to recover loans from those who have taken crores from SBS.

At the same time Khaling added that in the last three years the SKM government tried its best to recover from defaulters by sending them notices, publishing notices in newspapers, and even filing FIRs and appointing strict recovery officers but nothing worked.

“So, a strict, tough, and stringent law was very necessary to recover people’s money,” he said.
Mr. Khaling said that the people of Sikkim are still suffering due to mistakes made by the earlier government in 25 years, so the SKM government is working to ensure that no more money from SBS gets misused and so this law is not just for defaulters in the last 25 years but for every person who wants to take a loan at present as well. 

He added that this law is in the interest of the taxpayers of Sikkim and thanked the Chief Minister and all legislators who supported the bill.

On the Sikkim Official Languages (Amendment) Bill to recognize and include the Bhujel language as one of the official languages of Sikkim, Mr. Khaling said that it shows the SKM government and the CM’s vision to preserve and promote the languages, culture, and traditions of all communities of Sikkim