Sikkim governor Ganga Prasad has decided to reduce the number of vehicles in his convoy.
This was informed by Sikkim chief minister PS Tamang.
“He (Sikkim governor Ganga Prasad) has decided to reduce vehicles in his convoy,” CM Tamang said.
Governor Ganga Prasad reportedly made this announcement on Monday evening during a ceremony organised to open Sikkim Raj Bhawan for public viewing.
Also read: Assam: BTC proposes collaboration with Sikkim for promoting tourism
Earlier, stating that Sikkim has a long history, governor Ganga Prasad said that people have the right to experience the essence of rich heritage of the Raj Bhawan complex.
The Sikkim Raj Bhavan is home to the statues of legendary freedom fighters like Subhash Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
It also home to a medicinal plants farm and scenic beauty.
The Sikkim Raj Bhavan will be open for the public between 10 am to 12 pm in the morning and between 2 pm to 4 pm in the evening.
There will also be no entry fee for visiting the Sikkim Raj Bhavan complex.
History of Sikkim Raj Bhawan:
When the Sikkim Tibet war broke out in 1888, the British sent John Claude White as Assistant Political Officer with the expeditionary force.
In 1889, he was offered the post of Political Officer of Sikkim.
Though J Claude White was a Civil Engineer employed with the Public Works Department, he was so enamoured with Sikkim that he accepted the post unhesitatingly.
It was White who built what is today the Raj Bhavan at Gangtok.
White retired in October 1908. The Residency he built was a lasting legacy he left behind.
After White, all the incumbents of the post of Political Officer Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet based in Gangtok enjoyed the comforts of the English villa-like Residency he had built.
White’s completed Residency was a revelation, an object of much curiosity for the Sikkimese hitherto not exposed to such a house.
They would often call on the Whites and request permission to wander around the house; to see how the Whites lived and what European furniture was like.
In 1975, the institution of the Chogyal was abolished and Sikkim was formally inducted into the Indian Union as her 22nd State.
For having made this culmination possible, BB Lal was made Governor of Sikkim on May 18, 1975 the very day that the amending Bill received the President’s assent.
This marked the conversion of Residency into Raj Bhavan.
In its previous designation as India House or “Baara Khoti”, it had been rated as one of the India’s best Ambassadorial residences-it would now qualify as India’s most attractive Raj Bhavan.
The area of the compound is at approximately 75 acres consisting of lawn and garden as well as kitchen garden and fruit orchids.