Morcha ‘satisfied’ with state talks

TT; Nov. 20: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha that met state officials in Calcutta today said the talks were “satisfying”, though the hill leaders largely repeated their old demands before the government. The state government and the Morcha leaders, led by Roshan Giri, spoke for over two hours at the GTA Bhavan in Salt Lake. Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri, who was in the team, said the Morcha leaders spoke about recruitment of hill youth into the police, release of GTA funds, speedy transfer of departments to the hill body and the withdrawal of cases that has led to imprisonment of several GTA members. The state had finalised plans to set up a separate school service commission and college service commission for the hills, Giri said. Tomorrow, the Morcha, the state government and the Centre will sit for tripartite talks at Nabanna. After today’s talks, state chief secretary Sanjay Mitra said: “The meeting was cordial. There were some issues, like the ownership of forests, which will be brought up at tomorrow’s tripartite meeting. The issues that are in the state’s ambit, like recruitments (in the police), will be looked into.” Ten senior officials, led by chief secretary Mitra and home secretary Basudeb Banerjee, represented the state. The Morcha delegation sought for the release of funds that are due to the GTA Sabha, the first tranche of which is Rs 49 crore. Chhetri said the hill team demanded withdrawal of old cases against party leaders acting on which the police arrested several GTA members and Morcha activists during the latest round of statehood protests in the hills from July-end to September. Chhetri also said the recruitment of 4,000 personnel for the GTA and the absorption of Gorkha youths in the police were discussed. “These demands have been made earlier. We wanted to follow up. The recruitments are a must for better functioning of the GTA. Besides, the induction of our youths in the security forces is something we have been seeking for a while now. The state has assured us of co-operation and consideration,” Chhetri said. Earlier this month, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had assured the Morcha that the cases against the party’s leaders and activists would be reconsidered individually. She had also assured the Morcha of the government’s co-operation in completing the transfer of departments. “We will bring up the issue of… panchayat elections in the tripartite meeting. The bipartite meeting was held in an environment of co-operation and understanding. We are for development,” Chhetri said. The implementation of the three-tier panchayat system in the GTA area would be one of the key demands in the talks tomorrow, besides the transfer of reserved forests to the GTA and granting of Scheduled Tribe status to Gorkhas, barring Scheduled Castes. The Darjeeling hills had only two tiers of the rural administration system — gram panchayats and panchayat samitis — when the DGHC was in place. The Centre had amended Article 243M of the Constitution in 1992 to put in place the two-tier system. However, elections were held only to the gram panchayats in 2000. Giri termed the meeting “successful and satisfying”, adding that it would facilitate the hill body to function autonomously. The talks have happened after several months of acrimony between Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Gurung repeatedly said that the state government was not allowing the hill body to function freely and was interfering in its work. The Morcha chief was also against the formation of the development body for Lepchas under the state government. He said Mamata was trying to divide the people in the hills. Today, though, the Morcha team sounded positive. Giri said the state government had also decided to form the subordinate selection committee. “We were informed that the details have been forwarded to the law department for its final approval,” he said. According to the GTA memorandum of agreement, the subordinate selection committee can recruit employees for the Group B, C and D categories. “This would be a major achievement for the Morcha,” a source in the hills said. “The state government has also decided to form a committee to look into the problems of the 6,000-odd GTA employees. Another meeting has also been scheduled for November 28 to discuss the issue of ad hoc teachers,” Giri said. The ad hoc teachers want regularisation of their jobs. “The state has also finalised plans to set up a separate school service commission and college service commission for the hills,” said Giri. According to Giri, the state government has agreed to go through the 29 amendments the GTA Sabha wants to the GTA Act. Today’s meeting was held after the state government forced the Morcha to step back from its statehood agitation. It was after the Morcha announced that it would not hold the hills in ransom by calling strikes that the chief minister agreed to call the bipartite and tripartite meetings.