Sikkim CM to propose universal basic income, state may be first in country

Sikkim could become the first state in the country to implement a universal basic income (UBI) to cover all its seven lakh residents by 2022.

Pawan Kumar Chamling, the country’s longest serving chief minister, is set to include such a proposal in the election manifesto of his party, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state. Sikkim will have its Assembly polls simultaneously with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Party leaders say the objective was primarily to “future proof” the youth of the state, while also address vulnerability of other sections of the society. The exact amount of the UBI that the SDF could propose is still in the works. However, the party believes the state government has sufficient revenue sources, including from hydropower generation and tourism, to finance such a scheme. “It is an idea whose time has come for the Sikkimese youth,” SDF Lok Sabha MP P D Rai said.

Sikkim gets nearly 2.5 million tourists annually, and the SDF government is mulling instituting a small cess on the sector for additional resources to finance its UBI scheme. The SDF hopes to generate resources for the scheme from hydropower generation. In 2017, Sikkim’s increase in installed power capacity was the highest among all states. It expects to increase its revenue from power generation to Rs 355 crore by next year, and with its power consumption low, much of it would be evacuated to the national grid.

“This is the money the state gets from its natural resources. It is people’s money and our effort is to share the prosperity with all Sikkimese people,” Rai said.

Poverty in Sikkim is low, but there is uneven distribution of wealth. The UBI, the SDF hopes, would help somewhat bridge this. Social development indices, including maternal mortality and infant mortality, have improved significantly in the last two decades. From 41.43 per cent in 1994, the number of people below poverty line in 2011-12 was 8.19 per cent. Monthly per capita income in rural (Rs 1,445) and urban areas (Rs 2,528) is higher than respective national averages.

Chamling, 68, has ruled Sikkim since 1994. His party believes their 24-year-old government has ushered in several pioneering changes in the state, a ‘Sikkim model’ of governance, that the rest of the country could learn from, including the claim that it has turned to 100 per cent organic farming and has 100 per cent literacy.

According to Rai, the eligibility would be restricted to the subjects of Sikkim. The state government already has pensions for farmers, senior citizens and is thinking of introducing one for drivers.

However, all these pensions and other social welfare nets, including those the state gets under the central government schemes, would eventually be subsumed in the UBI.

“As experience and studies have shown, UBI works best for the youth. They will have the freedom to choose their work. The objective is to create a society where our young people look at the future without worrying about it,” Rai said.

Move to ‘future-proof’ citizens  

• 7 lakh people to benefit from the universal basic income, if implemented

• 2022 The year in which Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling aims to roll out the schem

• 8.19% people in state below poverty line in 2011-12

• Rs 1,445 Sikkim’s monthly per capita income in rural areas

• Rs 2,528 the state’s monthly per capita income in urban areas