Sikkim: When the 'Kingdom' took a beneficial, timely call 50 years ago

Since Sikkim merged into India in 1975, it has made rapid strides in indicators of economic and social wellbeing, writes Indivjal Dhasmana

Ever since Sikkim merged into India in 1975, its people would not have regretted being part of the republic. The reason is simple: It is the most prosperous state in the country as of now in terms of per capita income and the Centre contributes immensely to its financial coffers.

 

The state raced ahead of Goa in 2023-24 in terms of per capita income by ₹1,780. A year ago, Goa had a higher per capita income than Sikkim’s by ₹12,388. This is a remarkable progress, considering that 12 states were ahead of Sikkim in terms of per capita income even after 25 years of its merger. 

  Since 2000-01, Sikkim’s economy in proportion to the nation’s economy has trebled. It could be argued that even after this progress, the state’s economy was just 0.16 per cent of India’s economy in 2023-24. Seen in context — the hilly state spans across 7,096 square kilometres, which is 0.21 per cent of India’s area. Since the population of Sikkim at 610,577 constituted just 0.05 per cent of India’s — according to the 2011 census — it seems to have made all the difference in terms of per capita income.

  Like most of the ‘Seven Sisters’ in the northeast, Sikkim lacks revenue generating resources, particularly when it comes to taxes. For instance, its own tax revenues constituted just 17 per cent of its revenue receipts during 2023-24 even though it doubled since 2000-01. It is the devolution of central taxes and grants which aid the state's economy. Together, those account for 75 per cent of revenue receipts of the state now even though the contribution of devolution has increased and that of grants fell over time. 

  Sikkim’s overall economic prosperity is reflected in the social well-being of the state. For instance, the state now has only 2.6 per cent of its population under multidimensional poverty even though this may not be a perfect yardstick to assess this metric. This is far less than 15 per cent at the national level. Sikkim scores in other areas too — be it literacy rate or infant mortality rate. However, the state needs to work a bit on its gender ratio. 

Also, the unemployment rate in the state continued to remain way below the national average but it has been rising since 2021-22, according to reports of the periodic labour force survey. The reports, however, do not capture disguised unemployment, particularly in agriculture. 

 

 

How Sikkim became brother to ‘7 Sisters’ By Archis Mohan

 

Surrounded on three sides by Nepal, Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and Bhutan, Sikkim is of immense strategic importance for India. It is India’s least populated and second-smallest — Goa being the smallest state. 

  Its people comprise those from Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepali ethnicities. It was a Buddhist kingdom from 1642 to 1975 under the Namgyal Chogyal dynasty. In 1835, the British East India Company annexed Darjeeling from Sikkim, and it also became its protectorate. From 1947 onwards, Sikkim was a protectorate of India. In 1973, protests erupted in Sikkim against the monarchy. In April 1975, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal’s palace guards. In the subsequent referendum, 97.5 per cent of voters supported abolishing the monarchy.  On 16 May, 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.  Parliament passed the 35th and 36th amendments that made Sikkim a full state.  China recognised Sikkim as an Indian state in 2003 with India declaring Tibet as part of Chinese territory. It led to Nathu La being opened for cross-border trade on July 6, 2006, almost 40 years after the Nathu La clashes of September 1967 between the two militaries, where India secured a decisive tactical advantage.   

The phrase ‘Land of the Seven Sisters’, coined in 1972 to describe India’s northeastern states, was expanded with Sikkim’s merger as a “brother” state to the “seven sisters”. Since 2014, the Centre has taken to describing the eight states as ‘Ashtalakshmi’, or the eight forms of Goddess Lakshmi. In March, Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang said that the state planned to celebrate the golden jubilee and had invited the PM.