The Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme has emerged as a key issue in the run-up to the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Sikkim with the ruling SDF, and the HSP headed by the country's former football captain Bhaichung Bhutia, promising to implement it if elected to power.
However, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), the main opposition party in the state, is opposing the introduction of the UBI on the ground that it was not possible to execute it as the state "already has a huge debt".
The UBI is a fixed amount of income transferred by the government to every citizen's bank account, irrespective of his economic wealth and employment status.
It was Sikkim Democratic Front(SDF) parliamentarian P D Rai who had said in January that his party proposed to implement the UBI to provide regular income to "poor" families.
Rai, a two-term Lok Sabha MP, had said that his party would put out the details of the UBI in its election manifesto.
"The scheme will be rolled out by the SDF government headed by Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, if the SDF won the election," he had said.
Pointing out that the UBI should not be looked at as a "sop", the MP had said the scheme would "work well for the youngsters" because "it would give freedom to choose their work, it will be more futuristic and it will serve as a future production tool. Young people can look into the future without worrying too much about income."