Gangtok, May 22: Sikkim government will work for deferment of implementation of direct tax laws in the state for another 50 years, Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has said. "We are a tiny state that merged with the Indian union through a referendum only 30 years ago, so we deserve exemption from direct tax laws," Chamling told a press conference here last night, after assuming chief ministership of the state for the third consecutive term.

Implementation of direct tax laws has been one of the major issues in the state in recent years. So much so that it caused the fall of Nar Bahadur Bhandari-led Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) government in 1994.

The Chief Minister said that if the Centre was adamant on implementing the direct tax laws in the state in the near future, he will try to ensure that OBCs, SCs/STs and Sikkim subject certificate holders were exempted from its purview.

He, however, asked the people of the state not to read meaning into the ruling SDF extending its support to the Congress-led government at the Centre.


"We have always been supporting successive governments at the Centre as a matter of policy since we are a small state depending heavily on Central grants," he said.
Chamling's party had also given its unconditional support to the Vajpayee government.

Bureau Report