Sunday, Sep 25, 2022 08:45 [IST]
Last Update: Sunday, Sep 25, 2022 03:12 [IST]
GANGTOK, : Prem Goyal, a social activist and a representative of Sikkim’s old settler community, has demanded for making Residential Certificate (RC) equivalent to Certificate of Identification (COI). The demand placed by Goyal was part of the protest by Sikheem Suraksha Samiti demanding the State government to safeguard Article 371F and old laws of the State.
On Saturday afternoon, Goyal joined Suraksha Samiti in their protest at district administrative centre at Sichey here and spoke on the sixth demand of the 10 placed by Suraksha Samiti, which stated, “Make Residential Certificate (RC) equivalent to Certificate of Identification (COI), with proper verification of documents of the people residing in Sikkim before 26th April 1975.”
Goyal said, “We want the government to come out with a concrete solution regarding RC. Either make RC equivalent to COI or set rigid criteria to avail RC along with the attached benefit, facility or do away with the RC system completely. Due to changes at regular intervals, RC holders are panicking.”
Goyal said, “This has been a long pending demand of the old settlers. It has been raised since long to all the governments that came to power after the merger. If the problems of old settlers are solved and RC holders are treated or given equivalent status like a COI, numerous problems would be solved.”
The old settler blamed the democratic governments of treating old settlers like “step children”. He stated, “It is not the old settlers who have increased the influx in the State or has diluted the old laws of the state, it is the governments in power that have treated the old settlers as step children.”
Goyal accused SKM government of stopping the issue of Residential Certificates (RCs) to old settlers residing in Sikkim before April 26, 1975. He stated, “The current SKM government must go by their election manifesto where they have assured to resolve the problem for once and all. More than three years have passed, the government in power instead of solving the issue faced by the old settlers have stopped issuing RC. The stopping of RC to genuine beneficiary is creating further problem.”
Lastly, the old settler appealed. “The people, organisation who are trying to bring feud between the communities, stop doing as such act leads to people with vested interest to create chaos and differences among us.”
