YOUTH MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY AND DIGNITY

On January 2017, a few students of government colleges and Sikkim University gathered in a small room on 8th Mile Geyzing, West Sikkim, to form a youth organisation. This gathering was a culmination of a long process of bonding during college days. All of us belonged to rural Sikkim, majority from West and South Sikkim; we all had studied in Government schools; almost all of us had faced issues like shortage of teachers in school, lack of library and laboratory facilities.

All of our family members invariably go to government hospitals for medical treatment, travel in public transportation and all our parents are primarily farmers. During our meetings we discussed, debated and argued over many issues. We held group readings in our rented rooms near Tadong College and at Namchi. Our foremost task was to awaken Sikkimese youth and the general public through literature, music, art and science. In the first meeting we decided to start a bilingual quarterly literary magazine called Naya Dristikon, which we did and published a few editions subsequently.

Our just demands for a better healthcare system, better infrastructure in our college, decent minimum wage for workers, and a decent public transportation system proved to be very costly.

When we started the Sikkim Progressive Youth Forum (SPYF) in 2017, we never envisaged SPYF would one day be marching on the road and wrestling with the Sikkim Armed Police. In fact, when we started the organisation our objectives were to inculcate a reading habit among the youth in Sikkim, building a scientific temper, developing literature etc. Demanding for a better healthcare system and minimum wages were not in our plan. However, as our awareness grew about existing social injustices we were drawn by a strong desire to address these issues.

Our just demands for a better healthcare system, better infrastructure in our college, decent minimum wage for workers, and a decent public transportation system proved to be very costly. A dozen of our members were arrested, most of them faced four years of legal harassment and criminal cases filed by the Government, and four of our team members were expelled from college and some of us were openly labelled terrorists and anti-national in official press conferences

PATHETIC HEALTH SERVICES

In 2017 there was a severe shortage of doctors and nurses, and equipment for x-rays and ultrasonography at the District Hospital Geyzing. People were dying of fever caused by scrub typhus. We wrote letters to the District Magistrate, West District, the area MLAs, the Health Minister and even to the Chief Minister of the state. We asked for a few nurses, doctors, essential equipment like x-rays, ultrasonography machines, essential medicines etc. We got an appointment to meet the Chief Minister and we reiterated our demands. He assured us that the demands would be fulfilled in a few weeks. However, nothing substantial changed in the hospital. Even after six months people continued to suffer; we were distressed to see the common people suffer because of a lack of standard healthcare services in our own hospital.

We held a rally in Geyzing Bazar; over a thousand people participated. People came despite the threat and intimidations from the Panchayat members and party leaders. We prepared a memorandum demanding the fulfilment of Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) Guidelines for District Hospital in Geyzing. Our attempts to meet the Health Minister to submit our memorandum was met with force and intimidation. We were forcefully dragged out of the office premises in the evening.

We decided to spend the whole night on the roadside in front of his office. Twenty-four hours later the minister came to meet us along with the Secretary of Health and other top-level officers of the department. They agreed to accept our demands and gave a written assurance duly signed by him and some top level officials assuring us that 90 per cent  of IPHS norms would be fulfilled within one month and the remaining ten percent months later. A few changes here and there did appear but there was no qualitative change in the hospital in that period. We felt betrayed, we were  aghast at how the Government was least concerned about the lives of the common people. We had not imagined that they would lie to us blatantly. We were running out of options.

We went on a mission mode. Our members and volunteers went from door to door even to the remotest villages of West District raising awareness and mobilizing support.

Then, we decided to do a Gangtok Chalo - a foot march from Geyzing to Gangtok, a distance of 140 km. It was a big challenge for an organisation run by a group of youth in our early twenties and late teens. We were planning to do something which we had never attempted before, none of us had memories of such a march. We went on a mission mode. Our members and volunteers went from door to door even to the remotest villages of West District raising awareness and  mobilizing support. 

We had to acquire permissions from the Administrations of three Districts: West, South and East for the march.  Food and accommodation for fifty of us had to be arranged. All of us were very young and inexperienced. We were mostly college and school students. Legitimacy was an issue as well. We knew we were opposing a twenty-five year old regime whose administrative and political control was very strong. Propaganda and rumours against our movement were spread. But we were determined to bring about change, we were fighting for a life of dignity for all.

'GANGTOK CHALO': PEOPLES’ SUPPORT

All the members of our group belonged to an economically vulnerable section of society. None of us had even a lower middle-class status. None of our parents were even class IV Government employees and barely literate. We had no contact, no influence. Yet we could hold the twenty-five-year-old regime accountable because of people’s overwhelming support. Gangtok Chalo lasted for two weeks. The actual march was preceded by more than three months of preparations. Doubtless many people were afraid to associate with what was seen as an anti-government force.

We had no contact, no influence. Yet we could hold the twenty-five-year-old regime accountable because of people’s overwhelming support.

However, deep down they knew what we were demanding was just and legitimate. Despite the prevailing fear people would call us in the night to discuss the demand. During the door to door campaign in the villages they readily shared their problems. Many of them had lost their loved ones and they believed that they could have been saved if they had access to decent healthcare facilities . Some would cry remembering their young child lost, elderly parents or someone close to them because of poor healthcare services. Often patients were referred to Siliguri but the families did not have resources to take them to private hospitals. They were forced to bring their loved ones back to their homes and wait for death. 

People were ready to support us with whatever they could. During the long march and the dharna in Gangtok, people would bring us food, drinks, blankets etc. On our way to Gangtok, the entire village would come together to provide us food and shelter. People would stop their cars and donate. Everything Sikkim Progressive Youth Forum has done, has been supported by people’s contributions. People from all walks of life came to support  us. One seventy year old  man walked with us all the way from Geyzing to Gangtok and stayed with us throughout. SPYF had become the organisation of the people, for the people, by the people. The common people could relate with the issue we highlighted.

DEMAND FOR MINIMUM WAGES

A large section of people in Sikkim are employed as contractual labourers in pharmaceuticals companies, hydropower companies, Public Sector Undertakings, Government departments etc. Their contract conditions trap them to work for a minimum wage throughout their service. They have no retirement benefits, gratuity, medical insurance or anything. Their job would never be regularized. Many of them are not even hired directly by the company but through labour contractors. They were getting Rs 300 per day. Imagine feeding a family with that sum whereas a plate of rice at a modest eatery costs Rs 200. We calculated the minimum wage as per the Minimum Wage Act 1948. Considering the inflation  in Sikkim, as per the act the minimum wage should  be Rs 700 per day. Based on this we demanded  a minimum wage of Rs 21000 per month. 

...Their contract conditions trap them to work for a minimum wage throughout their service. They have no retirement benefits, gratuity, medical insurance or anything.

We started meeting workers telling them what should be their minimum wage as per the Act. We used social media handles, distributed pamphlets to spread our concerns and support for the labouring class. The question of minimum wages became a major issue in the state. In 2022, we organised the May Day programme in Golitar ground, Singtam. Despite the Government organising its own May Day event, workers came in thousands to attend our May Day programme. The main demand  in the programme was raising the minimum daily wage to Rs 700. We had collected Rs 100 from each worker to organise the programme. We had collected signatures from thousands of workers on the day of the programme. Later we met the Labour Minister, the Secretary to submit the memorandum. Reacting to the rising demand the Chief Minister declared that the minimum wage would be raised to Rs 500 a day. Although our demand was a daily wage of Rs 700, the workers were jubilant with the raise. However, no official notification followed the announcement. This happiness too was short lived. Workers started agitating in different factories. They started coming to us for help. When three of our members were going to a factory in Samardung,  Namchi district, the Police arrested them. It was late in the evening. They were taken to Namchi Police Station. The workers' agitation grew manifold following the arrest. They started coming out of their factories onto the road. From fear of the movement going out of control our members were released. The workers gave them a heroes’ welcome in Mamring, South Sikkim. Soon the workers salary was raised to ₹15000 per month, not sufficient but better than what they were getting before.

PANDEMIC AND TRAVEL COSTS

During the pandemic the condition of the working class worsened. Businesses were shut, people’s source of income dried up. However, gradually restrictions eased. Schools started opening, political gatherings resumed but the government had put in place illogical travel restrictions. Taxis and buses could only carry half the capacity of the vehicles, as a result, the fare doubled. People already going through financial crises were forced to pay double the fare. The Dashain festival was approaching. The restrictions had created a severe shortage of vehicles in villages. We wrote letters to the Department of Transport, met with the minister concerned. Yet nothing happened. We were told that the restrictions were imposed by the Home Department. When we met the Secretary there, nothing came of the meeting. We decided to stay right in front of the Secretariat where the office was located until the notification was issued.

Initially there were three of us (I , Rupen and Praveen Upreti).  Soon a few more people joined us. After spending a couple of nights there, we were arrested and taken to Sadar Police station and a First Information Report was registered against us. Immediately after our arrest, a notification was released whereby the bus fare was reduced to the normal fare again. However, the restrictions were still in place for taxis. We decided to go on a hunger strike inside the police station. Later in the afternoon that day we were forcefully taken to Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial (STNM) hospital for a medical test. Surprisingly, instead of conducting medical tests we were set free there. Our demands were yet to be fulfilled. We decided to continue our dharna for the same demand near the District Court, at the designated place for dharna. We celebrated Dashain there. After almost a week, an understanding was reached and the restrictions were lifted and the fare was brought back to normal.

THE REPRISALS

What followed as a series of reprisals that included summons and visits from the Police Special Branch, threats and victimization. Parents were told that their children's future career prospects would become bleak if they continue to associate with SPYF. Criminal cases were filed against seven senior leaders of SPYF, and an FIR was filed against four students associated with SPYF by the Principal Secretary, Education Department. A few days later they were expelled from college. Out of the thirty students who had gone to meet the then Education Minister,  four were expelled and criminal cases were filed against them.

A year-long judicial fight against the college and Department ensued. Eventually the High Court of Sikkim dismissed the expulsion order and the students were allowed to complete their studies. As the FIR was filed in the Sadar Thana, a long trial followed at the district Court. For almost three years, nine members of SPYF went through a trial at the district Court. After three years of harrowing trial at the court they were declared innocent. Just to delay the trial, dozens of police personnels were named as witnesses, who would deliberately miss the summons. Our members had to travel from different parts of Sikkim to Gangtok to attend the trial every few weeks. Some of our members undergoing the trial were still students. They had to miss classes to attend the court proceedings. The trial went on for over three years, with over forty attendance in the court. 

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES

Our grassroot movement is determined to address the problems that the common people of Sikkim face. People here live a precarious life, a life where there is no basic social security. In the majority of families, particularly in rural areas, if someone in the family falls ill, they have to go to the local MLA to ask for money to visit the hospital. Whether they get healthcare services or not depends on the mood of the MLA. If he denies them monetary support, there will be no treatment for the sick. If he provides some monetary help, it always comes with a string attached. It severely compromises self-respect and human dignity. Our demand in healthcare services has been for standard healthcare services, affordable for all so that no one is left to die due to curable diseases. A standard public healthcare system is a huge social security. Many families lose everything if someone falls ill. 

Our grassroot movement is determined to address the problems that the common people of Sikkim face.

Similarly, our movement for education is to ensure quality education for all. A quality education is the surest way to lift a family from poverty and indignities of life. The treasure of knowledge accumulated in the world is the result of collective human efforts of thousands of years. It is the result of the collective struggle of mankind. Therefore, this knowledge should be made available to all. Unfortunately there is a huge gap in the quality of education in Government schools in rural areas and top notch private schools. In Government schools, there is a shortage of quality teachers and lack of basic infrastructure. A majority of schools in Sikkim do not have a library or a laboratory. Many government colleges are running in makeshift buildings. Geyzing college was operating from a single building for many years.

Unless quality education is imparted to the underprivileged students they will never be confident enough to compete with those graduating from expensive private schools. Although Sikkim is celebrating the fiftieth year of democracy,  there is rampant inequality, discrimination and oppression. Common people continue to be treated as ‘subjects’ rather than citizens. People see their representatives not as one of them who represent their problems but they are deified. Therefore,  for a true democracy to flourish  people need to be politically aware and to understand their rights and their power. The struggle continues.