GANGTOK: Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling , who was conferred Doctorate of Literature (Honoris Causa) by the private Shri Ramasamy Memorial (SRM) University, yesterday said the state is set to become a fully literate by 2018. Pawan Kumar Chamling said that his government has given utmost priority to the education since assuming power in 1994 in order to safeguard the future of the young generation.
“It is because of our sustained efforts for more than two decades that Sikkim is set to become a fully literate state by 2018,” he said at the first convocation of the university in Sikkim where Governor Shriniwas Patil conferred the D.Litt on Pawan Kumar Chamling.
“Today, it is heartening to see that education in Sikkim is no longer a privilege enjoyed by a few. The tremendous increase in the number of educational institutions in the state over the last two decades coupled with our policy of free education upto college level and other facilities have ensured that education is accessible to one and all, irrespective of caste, creed or economic background,” the chief minister added.
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Stressing on the importance of education in shaping the future of the succeeding generations, he said “Education plays an important role in shaping the new generation not only in professional career, but as human beings too.”
SRM provides higher education in Sikkim and other parts of the country. The award is the third conferred on the 67-year-old Chamling since 2003. Sikkim Manipal University had honoured him with Ph.D degree in 2003 and Sikkim University with Doctorate of Philosophy degree in July this year.