A comprehensive review meeting involving the district administrations of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) was held at the GTA headquarters in Darjeeling on Wednesday to assess key developmental issues and chart out priorities for the hill region.
Speaking in Parliament on The Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on Thursday, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said that decades after Independence, several labour laws drafted during the British era continued to govern the country, describing them as outdated and in need of reform.
Although elected members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) met the Centre-appointed interlocutor Pankaj Kumar Singh in Darjeeling, GTA Chief Anit Thapa chose to remain absent.
The project Is being implemented in four phases. The first phase, connecting Khunia More to Kumani More over a stretch of 11.86 km, has already been completed. The second phase, linking Kumani More to Gairibas across 9 km, was inaugurated on 7 December 2025 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, accompanied by Siliguri MLA Dr Shankar Ghosh, called on Union minister of railways Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Wednesday.
To contain the spread of Covid-19, all inbound passengers, drivers and vehicle helpers entering Bengal from the state will have to furnish either of the three documents--certificate of double vaccination, negative RT-PCR negative reports issued within 72 hours of their travel
The officer on special duty for public health in north Bengal, Dr Susanta Kumar Roy, held a meeting with district magistrates, chief medical officers of health (CMOH) of both the districts, North Bengal Medical College and Hospital principal Prof Indrajit Saha and other officials today.
"The list of issues that will be discussed in the monsoon session of Parliament has come out, and it is unfortunate that no issue of the Gorkhas has been mentioned there. Recently, tribal status to different communities was granted in Arunachal Pradesh, but the MP has not done anything regarding the demand for tribal status for 11 different communities here," AIGL general secretary SP Sharma said.
Mr Bista has also extended his gratitude to Mr Gadkari for taking due cognizance of the issues concerning the highway that he had raised and for taking necessary steps to address them.
The DI has already been working with the Edward Foundation through their Project CARE (Critical Aid Response), through which they are providing medical equipment and other things related to Covid patients with stress laid on oxygen concentrators.
