PM to attend Sikkim's statehood celebrations today, launch several projects

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Sikkim's statehood at Paljor Stadium here on Thursday, officials said.

This will be Modi's second visit to the Himalayan state as the prime minister.

"PM will attend a programme - Sikkim@50: Where progress meets purpose and nature nurtures growth - on Thursday morning," the officials said.

Enjoying protectorate status under the Union of India after the country's Independence in 1947, Sikkim became an Indian state on May 16, 1975, following a referendum. 

Hoardings and banners with welcome messages to the prime minister have been put up in the state's capital, Gangtok, and its surrounding areas.

During his two-hour visit, the PM will release a commemorative coin, souvenir and stamp to mark the completion of 50 years of Sikkim as a state, the officials said.

The PM will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for several projects, including a 500-bed district hospital worth over Rs 750 crore in Namchi, a passenger ropeway at Sangachoeling in Pelling in Gyalshing district, and a statue of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji at Atal Amrit Udyan in Gangtok.

The prime minister will also address a gathering of around one lakh people on the occasion of the statehood celebrations, they said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the state capital for the PM's visit, while vehicles' movement is being restricted in Gangtok.