Stating that its 642 days odd struggle against the ‘destructive’ mega hdyel power projects in
“The success of the movement has been attributed to the sincere dedication of the youths, non-political stand of the organization and overwhelming love and support from all sections of the Sikkimese society. Under the circumstance, ACT has resolved that it will continue with the chosen path and never succumb to the lure of power or short term gain”, said ACT chief coordinator Tseten Lepcha in a press meet today here at BL House.
“ACT will not participate in any political activity and the members of the executive committee will not contest the election or directly participate in any political activity”, said Mr. Lepcha.
However, ACT has allowed its members to exercise their democratic right by choosing any political party or organization.
Meanwhile, ACT has slammed the State land revenue department for ‘not having any Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) policies’ for
“The department has no clue and there are no State and District level R&R committees. In a RTI reply, the department as stated that they do no even know about the existence of the NGO Bhavishya Bharat which has been entrusted with relief and rehabilitation works for Teesta Stage III, after huge sum of money has been transferred to it”, said the ACT chief coordinator. He added that Teesta Urja had showered flower petals over Singhik secondary school in
“This extravaganza has been included in the local area developmental schemes. Can such activities be considered as a developmental activity in the State where we have many families who have difficult time earning two square meals a day?”, questioned Mr. Lepcha. He demanded that the Bhavishya Bharat NGO should be stopped from carrying R&R works and reputed local or national NGOs should be selected to undertake the activities.
The ACT chief coordinator also alleged that the project level monitoring committee is ‘filled with people who are supporters of the power project committee’. No independent persons having knowledge about the project and R&R are in the committee, under such situation how can proper monitoring be done? he questioned.
Mr. Lepcha further claimed that the ‘deliberate non fulfillment of equity share (26 percent) by the State government’ has more or less rendered the 1200 MW Teesta Urja power project as a ‘private project’ and cease to be a joint venture with no control by the State government. If such happens then it will result in huge losses for the State of Sikkim and also means that the people will lose all rights over the project which is being built by exploiting the vast natural resources of the State, he said.
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