No religious linguistic minorities in Sikkim

Gangtok, May 2 : The Sikkim Government has told the members of the visiting National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities that there were no religious and linguistic minorities in Sikkim.

Sikkim Chief Secretary N D Chingappa told the Commission headed by its member Secretary Asha Das at a high-level meeting here that everyone in the state is treated equally.

While English is the official language of the state, Nepali and Hindi are widely spoken languages and there were no religious minorities in the state.

Irrespective of their caste and creed, the government provided education to each one and all free of cost, Mr Chingapa said.

State Social Welfare Secretary G Goparma said there were no minorities in the state as every one is covered under certain reservation.

Participating in the meeting state Information and Public Relations Secretary M G Kiran said the society in Sikkim was divided under two categories male and female and there was no such thing as untouchables and dalits in the state.

UNI