Gurung elected GTA chief executive.....Ministers at Darjeeling for oath taking ceremony

Photo: Rajesh Sharma, KalimNews

Vivek Chhetri, Darjeeling, Aug. 3: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung was today made the chief executive of the GTA, the highest post in the body, and party vice-president Bhupendra Pradhan was chosen the chairman of the GTA Sabha.
The GTA Sabha today held its first meeting at the Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan in Darjeeling, where members also elected Lopsang Yolmo, who represents Rongo-Today-Jaldhaka constituency, as the deputy chairman of the Sabha.
The chairman and deputy chairman of the GTA Sabha will conduct the business of the council.
After the meeting, Gurung said: "The house today elected Pradip Pradhan (the name by which Bhupendra Pradhan is commonly known) as the chairman of the Sabha and the Lopsang Yolmo as the vice-chairman."
Of the 45 elected members, Dipen Mallay was absent from the meeting as he is in jail, and Champa Bivar, who is from the Sukna-Panighata seat, reached the venue after the session got over.
All five nominated members of the GTA Sabha, among them three chosen by the Trinamul Congress, were present at the meeting.
Sources present in the meeting said the additional district magistrate of Darjeeling, Gopal Lama, first welcomed the members after which Pradip Pradhan was nominated as the chairman to conduct the proceedings.
Then, the vice-chairman of the Sabha and the chief executive of the GTA were picked.
All the members will take oath at Chowrastha tomorrow. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be present at the swearing-in.
Governor M.K. Narayanan will administer the oath to the chief executive and then appoint the principal secretary in the home department to administer the oath to the other members. The swearing-in, which was to start from 11am tomorrow, has been advanced by half an hour as Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has to return to Delhi for urgent work. Shinde arrived in Darjeeling today.
In a day or two, Gurung will nominate 14 executive members of the GTA, including a deputy chief executive.
It is not yet known where the permanent headquarters of the GTA will be.The GTA will temporarily function from Lal Khoti where the dissolved DGHC was headquartered.
"Since the GTA will have 45 elected and five nominated members, we are not sure about Lal Khoti area. We might have to look for other places to accommodate all the members and even this Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan looks good for an administrative building," Gurung said.
The Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Centre, state and the Morcha has stated that a "one-time financial package" will be given to the GTA to develop administrative infrastructure.
The clause reads: "The Government of India/ State Government will provide one-time financial assistance required for development of administrative infrastructure viz., GTA Sabha House, Secretariat Complex and the residential quarters for the elected members of GTA and the senior officers."

Madhuparna Das, IE, Darjeeling, Aug 04 2012" Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung will head the newly formed Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) as its chief executive — equivalent to a Cabinet rank — while Pradip Pradhan, a GJM vice-president from Kurseong, will hold the post of GTA chairman (equivalent to the Speaker’s post in the Assembly).

The announcements come a day ahead of the GTA swearing-in ceremony after he held the first meeting with 45 board members today.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today arrived in Darjeeling for the swearing-in.

Shinde, after a meeting with Mamata and GJM leaders in the evening, said: “This is my first major attendance after assuming the charge of home ministry. I welcome the formation of the GTA. I congratulate Bimal Gurung for winning the polls. I also thank Mamata Banerjee for her sustained efforts to restore peace in the hills.”

There was jubilation in the air in Darjeeling town with Gorkha youths in bright dresses greeting each other as they prepared to witness the swearing-in. GJM flags were seen flying atop shops, houses and other establishments.

Thanking the people of the hills for victory in the polls, Gurung said: “We are going to have 54 departments with 14 executive members who will hold the charge of different departments. We will start development works without wasting time as the people of the hills have waited for long. We want our new office of GTA to be shifted from the place where the office of the failed DGHC ( Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council) is located. The air in the area appears to be polluted.”

Interestingly, some senior GTA leaders and members of the outfit’s study forum who had prepared the GTA draft agreement and reports on the mouzas in Terai and Dooars to be included in the GTA, have been given the cold shoulder.

A member of the GJM study forum said, “It was unexpected that I was not given candidature and I was also not given any post in the GTA, for which I had put so much effort. But I cannot protest, neither raise any question. I have to be happy with this.”

Another senior member of the GJM central committee said, “Our president is not happy with us as the Shyamal Sen Committee did not give us more than five mouzas while we had demanded 398. This is not our fault, we did everything to get the mouzas. Now we have no say in the formation of the GTA.”

Names of five nominated members of GTA were also announced today. Three of the government nominees include Milan Duppa, TMC leader who was fielded at Ghoom-Jorbanglo constituency, Durga Kharel, a senior lawyer and TMC’s legal adviser, and Satish Thing, a school teacher in Darjeeling.

The two members nominated by the GJM include Birku Bhushal and Savitri Rai, while the name of rebel adivasi leader of Terai and Dooars region, John Barla, did not figure in the list though his name was proposed by the GJM. Significantly, three of the government nominees were not invited in the first board meeting of GTA.

Deep Gazmer, TNN, Aug 4, 2012, DARJEELING: Just a day after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) swept the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) election, the party selected the chief executive, chairman and deputy chairman of the GTA sabha on Friday.
While Morcha chief Bimal Gurung was selected as the chief executive, Pradip Pradhan and Lopsang Yolmo from Kalimpong were the unanimous decisions for the chairman and the deputy chairman of the sabha.
"The first meeting of the GTA sabha was held on Friday where the GTA members selected the chief executive, chairman and deputy chairman. As for the rest of the executive members, we will discuss and choose them at a later date," said Gurung.
According to the tripartite agreement of the GTA, it has been maintained that the executive body shall consist of a chief executive, who will nominate 14 members out of the elected/nominated members as the executive member. One of them shall be the deputy chief to the nominated by the chief executive.
Speaking on their decision on the office of the GTA, Gurung said, "We are yet to decide where our office will be located. We feel Lal Khuti, from which the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council used to function, will be small for the functioning of 45 elected members. We are thinking of forming the office here at Bhanu Bhawan, but nothing has been finalized."
The Morcha chief was also seen visiting Chowrasta - the venue of Saturday's oath-taking programme that will be marked by the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor M K Narayanan. Sushil Kumar Shinde, the new home minister, is also expected to be present on Saturday's occasion.

SHIV SAHAY SINGH, TH, DARJEELING, August 4, 2012: Bimal Gurung, president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), was elected Chief Executive Officer of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) here on Friday by the elected and nominated members of the new regional autonomous body.

Photo: Rajesh Sharma, KalimNews

The members of the GTA, that replaces the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), will be sworn in here on Saturday.

The first meeting of the GTA Sabha comprising 45 elected and five nominated members to the body that was held during the day also selected Pradeep Pradhan as Chairman of the GTA Sabha.

“The GTA Sabha will have 14 members in charge (MIC) and 57 departments. It will start functioning with the swearing-in of the members on Saturday,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told The Hindu.

He said the chairman and deputy chairman would function like the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of a State Assembly.

Mr. Giri said the party had not taken a decision on who would be the Deputy Chief Executive Officer or who are to be the MICs of the GTA.

Of the five nominated members to the regional autonomous body, three are representatives of the State government and the remaining two of the GJM.

John Barla, who led a faction of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad that supported the GJM’s demand for inclusion of areas in the Terai and Dooars in the GTA, did not figure in the list of nominated members after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee insisted that three candidates would be nominated by the State government.

Those nominated by the government include Durga Kharel, head of the Trinamool Congress legal cell in the district, Satish Kumar Thing, a school teacher, and Milan Dupka who was a candidate in the GTA elections nominated by the Trinamool Congress. The GJM had already announced that Sarita Rai and Birkhu Bhusal will be the other two nominated members of the body.

Meanwhile, preparations are on for the swearing-in ceremony of the first elected and nominated members of the GTA in Darjeeling. A huge stage has been set up at Darjeeling Chowrasta by the district administration for the event.
Asian Age,Darjeeling, 4 August: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung was elected the chief executive of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) while Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Darjeeling to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected members of the GTA.
While Ms Banerjee and West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan flew together from Kolkata in a routine flight to Bagdogra, the Union home minister came in a special plane before them.
After reaching Darjeeling in the evening, the chief minister held an informal meeting with Mr Shinde. This was her first meeting with the new Union home minister. On Thursday, Ms Banerjee had called up Mr Shinde and invited him to attend the swearing-in event. Although he had some important engagements in Maharashtra on Friday, he cancelled them and came to Darjeeling. Ms Banerjee’s invitation and Mr Shinde’s acceptance showed that both the Centre and the chief minister were keen to improve their relations which had strained over her initial refusal to back Pranab Mukherjee’s presidential candidature. Railway minister Mukul Roy also accompanied Ms Banerjee. “The tripartite GTA agreement was signed, then the bill was passed in the state Assembly and thereafter it received President of India’s assent. Then a high power committee headed by Justice (retired) Shyamal Sen ascertained the mouzas which would comprise the Darjeeling hills’ governing body. This was followed by delimitation exercise and finally the GTA elections. So much has happened in the past one year for this I want to congratulate my government officials, the GJM leaders and the people of Darjeeling,” an evidently upbeat Ms Banerjee said upon her arrival at Bagdogra.
In Darjeeling, the first meeting of the GTA board was held at the Ranga Manch Bhavan where the 45 elected members chose Mr Gurung as the head of the GTA. Pradip Pradhan was elected as the chairman. A 14-member board was also constituted with each member heading a particular department.
The tripartite agreement for GTA was signed in July 2011 in presence of then Union home minister P Chidambaram and Ms Banerjee. On Saturday, the new home minister, Mr Shinde would witness with her the swearing-in of newly-elected GTA member

KalimNews: Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Home Minister, Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister and other state officials arrived in Darjeeling for the GTA oath taking ceremony. They had a joint introductory meeting with the GTA elect members. (Photos: Rajesh Sharma, KalimNews)