Rs 200-crore Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Project Report scrapped, says Darjeeling MP Raju Bista
Following the resignation of GTA Chief Executive Anit Thapa and several other members, the GTA is presently being run by officials.
Following the resignation of GTA Chief Executive Anit Thapa and several other members, the GTA is presently being run by officials.
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.
The changing political landscape of West Bengal now appears set to trigger a major administrative and political realignment in the Darjeeling hills, with the state government initiating sweeping interventions in the functioning of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and hill municipalities.
A complaint alleging possible irregularities in the implementation of the Bharat Dal scheme in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) region has been taken up by Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, who has written to Union minister Prahlad Joshi seeking a detailed inquiry.
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 Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has taken an in-principle decision not to allow setting up of fresh hydropower projects in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
A former GNLF (Gorkha National Liberation Front) activist Bhawesh Bhujel, resident of Kalimpong, has informed the President of India Droupadi Murmu that a group of Gorkhas will start 'fast unto death' under Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) area demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland from 22 August. Mr Bhujel has written a letter to the President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention in resolving the issue amicably.
"The economy has gone down, and we should lift it up," she said, reiterating that elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), panchayat and the three other hill municipalities would be held, and that the elected representatives should do good work.
"When the Relief Fund was initiated, the GTA had taken a resolution to share its own matching grant against the donated amount as per an official statement, which would take the amount up to Rs 4 crore and 24 lakh,"
The GNLF claim comes amid discontentment in the Hills when it comes to the BJP, which is accused of not keeping its promises even after the region helped the party win three consecutive parliamentary elections.
