Members of the Rajbanshi community, under the banner of the Greater Cooch-Behar People’s Association (GCPA), protested against the disconnection of electricity connections in parts of Cooch Behar and adjoining areas in Jalpaiguri district.
The GCPA, which has been demanding a separate state of Cooch Behar, has not paid electricity bills since 2014 as part of its movement. The group claims that Cooch Behar remains a state and references a treaty with former ruler Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, who did not collect taxes.
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On Tuesday, electricity department officials disconnected connections in Duramari village under the Banarhat block in Jalpaiguri, citing over a year of pending dues. Many GCPA members were reportedly not at home when the disconnections occurred.
In response, GCPA leaders, led by Jalpaiguri district president Mohan Roy Pramanik, held a meeting with villagers and restored the disconnected connections themselves.
GCPA chief Banshi Badan Barman, who initiated the movement for a separate state in 2006, included non-payment of electricity bills in the group’s agenda in 2014. Despite chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism during a visit to Cooch Behar, the group continues to resist payment. Authorities have largely been unable to enforce disconnections in the area.
Speaking to reporters, Abhay Roy, a resident of Duramari, said: “We have not paid electricity bills since 2014 as part of our movement. The Centre and the state have failed to clarify whether Cooch Behar is a state or a district. If the administration proves it is a district, we will start paying.”
The district administration reiterated Cooch Behar’s official status, noting that it transitioned from a princely state to a district after merging with West Bengal on 19th January 1950, following an agreement signed in 1949.
