Soreng district status will cater to growing population, administrative needs of four constituencies: Aditya

BIJOY GURUNG

GANGTOK,: Soreng, one of the oldest subdivisions of Sikkim, would be upgraded as a new district from 2022 onwards covering four constituencies – Rinchenpong, Daramdin, Soreng-Chakung and Zoom-Salghari.
Chief Minister P.S. Golay had made the announcement of Soreng and Pakyong as new districts of Sikkim from 2022 during the recent Budget Session.
A high-level meeting would be soon called by the Chief Minister to prepare a roadmap on the two new districts including discussions on infrastructure requirement and jurisdictions.
For now, Soreng subdivision caters to over 1 lakh population of Rinchenpong, Daramdin, Soreng-Chakung and Zoom-Salghari constituencies, all in West Sikkim. The Soreng town would be functioning as the headquarters of the new district and as area MLA Aditya Golay shares, it will provide relief to people from remote corners of this region through easy access to the district administration.
West Sikkim has eight constituencies with Geyzing as the district headquarters which is located at a considerable distance away from constituencies covered by Soreng subdivision.  
“It is very difficult for the people (from the four constituencies) to travel Geyzing for officials works with the district administration. They have to travel a long distance and sometimes you don’t meet the concerned officials at Geyzing and your work is not done,” said the Soreng-Chakung MLA to SIKKIM EXPRESS on Monday.
“People from Sombaria-Daramdin will benefit the most because they stay in remote areas located very far away from Geyzing. Some of these villages like Barang, Ripdi and Pureytar are close to the Indo-Nepal border, people from these areas will benefit greatly when Soreng becomes a district,” said Aditya.
Soreng became a subdivision in 1990.
“It has been 31 years and during this period, the population in the subdivision has increased and is more than Geyzing. People have been demanding a district status since 15 years ago. This demand has now been fulfilled and on behalf of the people, I thank the State government and the Chief Minister for this,” said the Soreng-Chakung MLA. He added that it will deliver ease of administration for the growing population of the region while also boosting the economic activities in Soreng.
An amount of Rs. 2 crore each has been allocated in the State Budget for undertaking district preparatory works in Soreng and Pakyong.
Aditya mentioned that the sanctioned funds would be used for upgrading the existing infrastructure or create temporary structures for functioning as a district headquarters. Our land profile is such that we cannot have all offices at one place and requires distribution at different places, he said.
The way forward to the 2022 operational target would be discussed and planned in the high-level meeting soon with the Chief Minister.
“We are also in constant touch with our counterparts in Pakyong. Both districts have to move simultaneously, address what needs to be done and work as per the Chief Minister’s direction. The high-level meeting would be called in a week or so and we will be discussing all the issues in detail,” said Aditya.
The Soreng-Chakung MLA mentioned that to have a district running with full-fledged infrastructure including a permanent district administrative centre would take minimum 2-3 years.
“We cannot make a full DAC (district administrative centre) within a year. We have identified the land for the DAC but construction will take time. But there are existing buildings and structures belonging to other departments that are lying idle. We can install make-shift offices in these structures and run the administration through this temporary arrangement till the permanent offices are constructed. There are also other issues that need to be discussed for future planning like traffic management and sewerage system,” said Aditya.
Regarding the jurisdiction of upcoming Soreng district, the MLA said the new district will be covering the existing territories of the four constituencies coming under the present subdivision. There are demands and suggestions regarding the jurisdiction like for example in Zoom-Salghari constituency, Jorethang falls under south district while remaining areas are under west district, he said. It has been suggested that the entire constituency be brought under Soreng district and it will be placed for discussions before a final decision is made, he added.
One of the peculiar issues would be the official name of the two new districts. Sikkim at present has four districts and they go by the name of the directions they are located – east, west, south and west.
“We have not discussed on the name as yet, right now we are calling it Soreng district. At present Sikkim has east, south, west and north districts but if you see in other States, the districts have specific names. I think we also need to follow the same so there is no confusion and it will be discussed in the coming meeting,” said Aditya.