WB state Government violating GTA agreement, complains GJM to Union Ministers

Darjeeling, March 05: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) team led by its President, Bimal Gurung, met with Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde at New Delhi, today and discussed about the provisions of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Act and its enforcement. They complained that the West Bengal state government is violating the GTA agreement by interfering in the works undertaken by the GTA Board. 

They said that no development has occurred in the hills till date and formation of a separate state is the only solution for the same. The Morcha faction also complained Shinde that all the state government has also failed to transfer all the departments under the GTA, informed the GJM General Secretary, Roshan Giri, over the phone. The team also submitted a proposal mentioning the criminal cases filed against GJM representatives during the Morcha’s Gorkhaland agitation, and demanded withdrawal of all the cases as it falls under the provision of the GTA Act.

 Further, they demanded tribal status to all the castes of the hills excluding the Schedule Caste. Deepa Das Munshi, Member of the Parliament, was also present during the meeting with the Union Home Minister. Likewise, they also met the Union Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh, during which the Minister extended his support in rendering all kinds of assistance for rural development in GTA areas. It has been informed that Ramesh is likely to visit Darjeeling on 7th and 8th April, 2013 to assess the ground reality in terms of the situation of rural areas in GTA.

 A copy of the recently published book titled, ‘Why Not Gorkhaland’ was also presented to all the Ministers and delegates they met today. The Morcha team also raised a strong proposition that the issue of Telangana and Gorkhaland should be considered parallel. They requested the Ministers and delegates that GTA should be included in the North East Council, as per the Committee established by the Rajya Sabha, headed by Sitaram Yechury, which has recognized the fact that Darjeeling and Sikkim should be included in the North East region of the country. 

Ranjan Sharma, General Secretary of Delhi GJM highlighted the continuous Dharna by the GJM activists at Jantar Mantar. He said that the Morcha has left no stone unturned for Gorkhaland formation. He notified that the representatives of Vidhyarthi Morcha are playing an active and pivotal role in the ongoing Dharna which has reached its 36th day today. The Dharna will continue till they receive any positive response from the state or the central governments.