Rotary

The process of forming Rotary Club of Gangtok was conceived in March 1968 with the visit of then District Governor of R. I. District 325 Justice H. Mahapatra of Patna High Court and Rtn. T. Nath, DIG of CID, Bihar (Rotary Club of Patna) and their meeting with Mr. R. N. Haldipur, the Principal Administrative Officer of Sikkim.

A provisional Rotary Club of Sikkim was formed patrnonized by the Chogyal of Sikkim, Shri P. T. Namgyal under R. I. guidelines with the following office bearers :

President : Rtn. R. N. Haldipur

Vice President : Rai Bahadur Athing Sonam Tobden

Hony Secretary : Rtn. Madan M. Rasaily

Jt. Secretary : Rtn. L. H. Hartnett

The club was admitted to Rotary International as ROTARY CLUB OF GANGTOK on 22nd August 1968 and the charter presentation ceremony was planned on 3rd November 1968 but due to devasting landslides and disruption of communication, the ceremony was postponed and was finally held on 2nd March 1969 with Rai Bahadur Athing Sonam Tobden as President, Rtn. M. M. Rasaily as Vice President and Rtn. L. H. Hartnett as Hony Secretary with Chogyal of Sikkim as Patron and had 32 members on its roll.

In a very short time the club saw its bad times and the membership strength reduced to 8 members in 1971. A fresh life was infused in the Club by the initiative of Chogyal of Sikkim in 1976 and the strength rose to 13 and since then the Club has been steadily maintaining and growing to the present strength of over 37 members.

Though small in members as far as strength is concerned, the achievement of the Club are no way smaller, the biggest being SURVIVAL against all odd due to the dedication of some members. The strongest bond of survival has been the fellowship during the meetings and more importantly after the meetings especially unto mid eighties.

Contact Address:

Rotary Club of Gangtok
C/O Rtn. Asha Kiran
M/s Kiran Co, M. G. Marg
Gangtok - 737101, Sikkim, India
Phone - 9434031073, 8159807839
Email - rotarygangtok@hotmail.com, guddank@yahoo.com