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.
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabhasad Ajoy Edwards has fired off a letter to the newly-appointed Darjeeling District Magistrate, Manish Mishra, demanding full transparency in the Housing Grant disbursal for victims of the 5 October landslides.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday handed over appointment letters to 11 family members of those who lost their lives in the devastating landslides that struck Mirik on 4-5 October following incessant rainfall.
"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.
A notification issued by the Home and Hill Affairs Department of the government today said that the last extended tenure of the GTA will expire on 19 March and that the new six-month tenure would begin on 20 March.
The Kalimpong chapter of the association had also joined the TMC on 7 November.
