Why’s Sikkim in the news of late and what one must appreciate about it?

The income determines one’s ultimate status in life, does it not? So, one might agree, it is safe to say it’s a life sustainer, the financial stability, therefore, bearing the same importance as one’s vital organs.

What do you think?

Having said that, here’s a conversation starter. Would it be correct or just to submit that it’s always easy to sustain one’s state and its people, regardless of whether one’s part of a developed or developing world?

And if that’s not the case, then, well, what Sikkim- a state one usually notes for possessing a kind of serenity one expects from places straight out of a fairytale book or for being part of a charming dream- has achieved recently may give you some food for thought.

Perhaps, it’s about time that Sikkim was given the credit it most usually

Sikkim is not just another place in the north-eastern belt of the country renowned for its green hills, pristine beauty or cozy romantic spots tailor-made for unlimited selfies. It is a state that’s evidencing sound financial health and seems now to be a contributor to the idea that developing countries too can evidence a state of economic stability.

For, quite frankly, there’s no better way at the moment in which you’d credit the picturesque albeit economically capable strand of Indian geography could be described.

Here’s what is making news about the Indian state that is making news for reasons that compel one to overgrow one’s imagination that restricts the biased Indian, rather the insufficiently aware bloke.

Well, Sikkim has become the first state inside the world’s largest democracy on the planet that is all set to offer a fixed or dedicated income to each of its 6,10,000 citizens. You read that right and if, in case, it surprised you, then wait to read the bigger picture behind a fiercely ambitious idea.

Apparently, in a bid to experiment with the concept of a ‘fixed basic income’ for each and every citizen, individuals of the state are to receive the same in what is being admired for being the world’s largest basic income experiment in human history.

Who would have thought- and this must be asked- that a state so perennially nestled in a feeling of calm and an innate state of self-contentment would become the breeding ground for experimentation whose reverberations are being felt around the world?

In this pleasantly surprising move, one of India’s smallest states, therefore, has caught the attention of the world so much so that even stalwarts on entrepreneurship, such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have come to appreciate the concept of basic income.

But having said the above, it must also be mentioned that the said date concerning the launch of the experiment is 2022, which is, well, still a couple of years away. And here’s another gentle reminder in lines with the ‘fixed social experiment’ that the exact amount that one is to receive in lines with the plan is yet to be fixed or decided.

But all said and done, what was the main driving point behind Sikkim’s news-making move that’s sensationally caught up with the popular imagination of the people.

It is being believed that the rise in global equality, as seen in recent times, could’ve sparked the idea. This is an idea that’s now finally making the less-informed or the truly curious follower of India- given its income divide, opportunities and growth enquire about the state’s latest move. So, must this be asked, will Sikkim continue to attract travel-related searches as it mostly does or will the ambit of the world’s curiosity about the place change?