Today A meeting was held in the conference hall of Tashiling Secretariat with Industrial Plant heads in co-ordination with the Commerce & Industries Department. The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary, Mr. A.K. Shrivastava. There were also present Additional Chief Secretary- Commerce & Industries, Mr. Thomas Chandy; Additional Chief Secretary- Education Department, Mr. G.P. Upadhyaya; Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary- Planning & Development, Mr. V.B. Pathak; Commissioner cum Secretary- Health & Family Welfare Department, Mr. Vishal Chauhan; Secretary- Commerce & Industries, Mr. S.K. Pradhan; and Secretary- Labour Department, Mr. S.B. Subba. Other officials from Commerce & Industries were also present in the meeting while representatives from several industries like V-Guard Industries Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, etc., participated in the discussion. This was the second meeting in the series. The first meeting took place on 26th July.

As per The Chief Secretary’s brief the agenda and the points of discussion divided into nine-points, which are given below:

• What is the purpose of the Industries and what the products manufactured
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• Details of labour working in the unit
• Labour Contract System
• Perks and facilities being provided to workers
• Transportation provided to workers
• Storage and ware houses
• Promotion prospects for workers
• Pollution Control Measures

CS expressed his satisfaction with the functioning of the industries but stated that the government desires the expansion of CSR activities for durable commercial assets. He also spoke on the need for pollution control and cited an example of how companies like Sun Pharma-II was re-pumping used water into their air-conditioning ducts thereby reducing pollution. In this regard he suggested that companies use innovative and sensible ideas like these to combat pollution. He concluded by saying that the Hon’ble Chief Minister would most likely join them in the next meeting in this series.

Additional Chief Secretary- Commerce & Industries, Mr. Chandy, welcomed the gathering and stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss various issues related to the operations and functioning of the industries and the corporate sector in Sikkim mainly CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) liabilities. He He spoke on the various labour acts that are implemented in the state for the welfare of the working class. Secretary- Labour Department, Mr. Subba, expressed his concern for the well-being of the labourers and highlighted the labour acts and laws succinctly.

The company representatives stated their list of CSR activities like building footpaths, providing computers and smart classes in government schools and other such activities. Most of these industries have an average of 70-80% of local employees. Even the companies who are not liable to CSR said that they’ve been involved in various social work and labour and employee welfare.

The company representatives then listed down the points of discussion and their grievances and submitted it to Mr. Chandy.

Joint Labour Commissioner, Mr. D.S. Kanwar, delivered the vote of thanks.