‘No bandh if no part of Terai-Dooars put in GTA’

‘No bandh if no part of Terai-Dooars put in GTA’

7 April 2012

statesman news service

SILIGURI, 7 APRIL: Leaders of two groups said they would consider calling off a proposed 10-11 April bandh only if the state government assures them that no Terai-Dooars land will be put under the GTA, while the leader of a third group said his unit would go forward with the strike no matter what.

State industry minister Partha Chatterjee will meet in Siliguri tomorrow with representatives of the Terai-Dooars Joint Action Committee, which has been spearheading the no-land movement. Mr Chatterjee is coming as the chief minister’s emissary ask the anti-GJMM coalition to withdraw its two-day shutdown.

Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad state president Birsa Tirkey said Mr Chatterjee’s trip would yield a result only if he declares unambiguously on behalf of the state government that not a single mouja from the region would be included in the GTA territory.

"We would indeed consider withdrawing agitation if he gives such an assurance," Mr Tirkey said.

A development package from the state government would not soften the ABAVP's stance, Mr Tirkey said. "Such a strategy might have succeeded in the past when we were a gullible community. Now the situation has changed. We will not wager land for development," he said.

Echoing Mr Tirkey, Kamtapur Progressive Party president Atul Roy, who is the convener of the Dooars-Terai Joint Action Committee (TDJAC), said he would ask Mr Chatterjee to arrange a meeting with the chief minister on the land issue.  "If the chief minister states no land from the region would be included in the GTA, we would withdraw the bandh," he said.

The president of another TDJAC constituent, the Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee, Mr Mukunda Majumder said there was no question of withdrawing the bandh. "The GTA agreement itself is unconstitutional," he said. 

Bratya for Marx, Friedrich and Lenin in syllabus

Bratya for Marx, Friedrich and Lenin in syllabus
SILIGURI, 7 APRIL: Taking a stance that stands contrary to one taken by the School Education Syllabus Committee (SESC), the state education minister, Bratya Basu, today said there was no question of ridding the history syllabus of the historical legacy associated with Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and VI Lenin. “Marx, Engels and Lenin are indispensable parts of world history. There is no question of erasing these important figures from the history syllabus of the schools,” he said while talking to the media on the sidelines of the inauguration of a B.Ed college at Patagora under Rajganj block in Jalpaiguri district today. When asked about the recent controversy regarding the matter, he said it was about a mere recommendation of the committee.  sns

Asok claims discrepancies in GTA

Asok claims discrepancies in GTA

6 April 2012

SILIGURI, 6 APRIL: Former state urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya pointed out what he said were several discrepancies in the GTA agreement in an article today in CPI-M mouthpiece, Ganashakti. In the article, Mr Bhattacharya wondered whether the state government has erroneously mentioned that a three-tier panchayat system would be introduced in the Hills, or intentionally created discrepancies on the subject.
"The three-tire panchayat system and municipalities are recognized by the Indian Constitution. But the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is a statutory body under the purview of the state Act. Can a body recognised by the Act control constitutionally guaranteed self-government?" he wrote.
Mr Bhattacharya also criticised the chief minister’s commitment to nominating five members from the Terai and the Dooars to the GTA.
"The GTA will be constituted comprising 50 members, according to Section 5(1) of the GTA Act. The Governor would nominate five persons. The state government would not nominate. Five members will be selected from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, and the minority community. But it was decided at a meeting in Kolkata on 24 March that the state would nominate members from new added areas. How is it possible?” he asked.
He also pointed out that: "A total of 45 constituencies will be made to resolve the GTA ‘region’ according to Section 5(1) and 6(4) of the Act. But the definition of the GTA region has specified all areas under three Hill sub-divisions ~ Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong ~ and 18 moujas under Siliguri sub-division. Notably, all 18 moujas have already been included in the Kurseong sub-division. How has the state government assured the GJMM leaders that all 18-moujas would be included in GTA?” sns

GTA land issue: Committee to meet on 20 April

6 April 2012

statesman news service

GTA land issue: Committee to meet on 20 April
 

SILIGURI, 6 APRIL: In order to expedite the land transfer process involving the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the high-power committee, headed by Mr Justice (retd) Shyamal Sen will meet in Kolkata on 20 April. Senior GJMM leader LB Pariyar, who is also a member of the high-power committee, said the agenda was yet to be decided. Notably, Mr Sen met the state home secretary and the district magistrates of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling on 27 March in Kolkata.
Mr Sen is understood to have asked the two district magistrates to furnish details involving the mouja-specific maps based on latest Census reports.  Mr Pariyar said he had not yet been informed about the spot verification by the committee. “I have no idea when the verification process will begin. All I can say is that the district magistrates have been asked to provide data-based information about the moujas which will help the committee to differentiate the Gorkha and Adivasi majority areas across the Terai and the Dooars,” he said. He also said the mouja map and the Census report should be considered as determinants in identifying the lands to be included into the GTA territory. “Language can be a determining factor too in the land identification process,” he added. Another member of the committee and a GJMM leader based in Terai, Mr Shankar Adhikari, claimed that several hundred moujas will be included in the GTA. 

11 child deaths in Malda

11 child deaths in Malda

6 April 2012

statesman news service
MALDA, 6 APRIL: At least 11 children died in Malda Medical College and Hospital in last 36 hours. 
State health department spokesman Asit Biswas confirmed the deaths of nine children in a 24-hour period and 15 children over the past seven days. But those figures aren't what the department is focused on, he said.
“We’re not concerned with the number of deaths,” Mr Biswas said. "Our concern is to see how many crib deaths can be prevented.”
Mr Biswas said a task-force has been formed and “the MMCH authorities have been asked to record the details of the sick babies on the bed tickets.”
Asked about the normal average number of crib deaths in Malda, Mr Biswas said that “generally 33 newborns out of each 1,000 die, but the situation in Malda is different.”
“MMCH bears the pressure of the patients not only from neighbouring districts, but also of the sick children referred from neighbouring states like Bihar and Jharkhand,” he said.
Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) sources say nine babies died there up until yesterday afternoon. The particulars of those children couldn’t be obtained from hospital authorities, but eight of them were referred to MMCH, seven of were suffering from asphyxia, and two had very low weights.
Two more children died this morning.
Five-month-old Romit Sheikh, of Babupur village under English Bazaar block, was brought to MMCH by his parents ~ Mrs Amina Bibi and Mr Abdul Kalam Azad ~ with breathing trouble. Mr Ekramul Hoque, Romit’s grandfather, alleged that the child died soon after a nurse had given him an injection, and that no doctor attended the sick baby.
Five-day-old Juthika Pramanik, of Raipur village in the Mojampur area of Kaliachak block, was also brought in suffering from asphyxia and died. 
MMCH principal Debasis Bhattacharyya has been transferred to Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital at Kamarhati. Dr Uchchhwal Bhadra, of NRS Medical College and Hospital, a professor of community medicine, has taken over as the new principal.

Hill tour operators want relief from strikes

Hill tour operators want relief from strikes

6 April 2012

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 6 APRIL: Tour operators are appealing to the political forces in the Hills to spare the tourism industry from their bandhs, as it is one of the mainstays of the regional economy.
The anti-GJMM forces have called a 48-hour strike in the Terai and the Dooars on 10-11 April and the GJMM-backed Joint Action Committee has called another 48-hour strike on 18-19 April.
"Bandhs and tourism are two extremely opposite poles and can never meet," said tour operator Raj Basu.
"For the past two decades tourism has come up as the main industry in the north Bengal and Sikkim region, which is considered a major tourism circuit globally, because of its  geographical location, heritage and hospitality," Mr Basu said.
"We saw during the previous series of bandhs that they affected the industry badly," he said. "So we ask the conveners of the bandh to exempt the industry and treat it as an emergency service."
Mr Basu said the hotels had been almost booked, but around 30 per cent of bookings have already been cancelled because of the proposed bandhs. "Many people are associated with the industry," he said. "They will be affected badly if the industry is not kept out of the bandh's purview."
Another tour operator, Mr Vivek Gupta, said the industry had already suffered losses of Rs 200-300 crore because of the earthquake in Sikkim last year. "We fear that if the tourism industry is affected by the proposed bandh, we might suffer a financial loss of around Rs 400-500 crore," he said.

Move to seize cell phones from inmates

Move to seize cell phones from inmates

6 April 2012

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 6 APRIL: After 250-300 cell phones were confiscated from inmates of various state correctional homes over the past 10 months, state minister for jails Shankar Chakraborty today admitted that the convicts have been availing the facility with a connivance with some jail employees.
At the inauguration of a guest house for officers of correctional home departments in Siliguri, he said: “We are conducting surprise visits to seize cell phones. We have also decided to introduce modern technologies like close-circuit cameras and jammers to track if anybody was using cell phones.” The minister also inaugurated a 16-bed hospital for inmates of the Siliguri special correctional home and said the state government was planning to set up more hospitals for correctional homes. “We have just inaugurated a 10-bed hospital for female inmates at the correctional home at Balurghat. Work is on to set up a 20-bed hospital for male inmates at Balurghat and a 30-bed hospital at Hooghly,” he said.
Mr Chakrabarty said the jail department had tied up with the Indira Gandhi National Open University for imparting basic and higher education to inmates. “Initially, it will be introduced in the Central correctional homes and will later be introduced to the ones in various districts and sub-divisions,” he said.
North Bengal development minister, Mr Gautam Deb, Siliguri MLA and Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority chairman Rudranath Bhattacharya, inspector-general of north Bengal police, Mr Sanjay Singh, inspector-general of correctional services Ranbir Singh were also present at the programme.

Trinamul opposes appointment of Gour Banga varsity official

Trinamul opposes appointment of Gour Banga varsity official

6 April 2012

statesman news service
MALDA, 6 APRIL: A Trinamul-backed group has written to the Governor to oppose the confirmation of an official to a permanent post at the University of Gour Banga.
Mr Apurba Chakraborty was appointed as inspector in colleges (IC) of the university in February 2011 by the former university council. The other candidates who competed for the post alleged that Mr Chakraborty was given undue advantage, and his appointment was unfair.
"Dr Chakraborty has neither the prescribed experience nor due qualification required for the post. It was his intimacy with the former Left Front government that fetched him the crucial post," said Mr Pradyot Ghosh, speaking on behalf of the Trinamul-backed Gour Banga Siksaha O Sanskriti Unnayan Mancha (GBSSUM), a forum of intellectuals from Malda and both Dinajpurs.
Mr Chakraborty was on probation for the first year, and his service was due to be confirmed in February, making him the permanent IC. Meanwhile, the former council was dissolved and a new council was formed.
The members of the GBSSUM met the new council members right before the first meeting on 25 March and alleged that Mr Chakraborty’s appointment was controversial and illegal. They also asked the new council not to confirm Mr Chakraborty's service.
The council, however, referred the issue to Governor MK Narayanan, who is also the Chancellor. So the GBSSUM on 3 April sent a written objection to the Governor, claiming Mr Chakraborty's appointment was an "instance of corrupt practice" by the selection committee.
The GBSSUM also said the "standard procedure of screening the applications for the interview by a screening committee" was violated by the Vice-Chancellor (V-C).
"The interview was cancelled on the date fixed at the sweet will of the V-C and the interview was held the next day without giving ‘sufficient time’ to the candidates," the group alleged.
A good number of UGB teachers, however, stand by Mr Chakraborty and claim he served as the officiating registrar during a period of crisis for the varsity. "It’s unfortunate that a commendable officer like him is being targeted merely on political grounds," said a senior teacher on the condition of anonymity.
The senior teacher also said that, as per the conditions mentioned in the appointment letter, Mr Chakraborty’s service should be automatically confirmed after one year. The council's nod is "a mere formality," he said.
V-C Gopa Dutta also supported Mr Chakraborty, saying: “I’m happy that he performed satisfactorily from his capacity."

GJMM, GNLF men clash; five injured

GJMM, GNLF men clash; five injured

5 April 2012

KURSEONG, 5 APRIL: Five GNLF activists were injured as they clashed with GJMM workers at Gaaridhura in Kurseong today. However, the GNLF activists observed the party’s foundation day in the vicinity of the Panighatta police outpost.  
GNLF supporters from different areas adjoining Gaaridhura started assembling at Gaaridhura Bazaar in the morning to observe the party’s foundation day programme. They alleged that hundreds of GJMM supporters had swooped down on them.
“They pounced upon us, chased us and pelted us with stones. We had to leave Gaaridhura and observed the programme at Panighatta. Several of our supporters were injured. The number of the injured would have gone up substantially had we not retreated to Panighatta in time,” said the GNLF’s Kurseong unit leader, Mr Nima Lama. The GNLF activists blocked roads at Panighatta for around an hour and also staged a demonstration in front of the Panighatta police outpost. Slogans against Mr Bimal Gurung and the GJMM were raised. They also shouted slogans against the police for the latter’s failure to provide them with adequate protection against the alleged GJMM hooliganism. He also said three GNLF supporters were injured in Mirik when they were returning after having participated in the foundation day rally at Mahendra Busty.
GJMM’s Kurseong youth leader Subash Pradhan, however, said his party activists had done nothing to spoil the GNLF programme. sns

GNLF to renew Sixth Schedule campaign

GNLF to renew Sixth Schedule campaign

4 April 2012

statesman news service
DARJEELING, 4 APRIL: The once preponderant party of the Darjeeling Hills, the Gorkha National Liberation Front, is set to observe its foundation day tomorrow across the Hills and the party activists are likely to launch renewed campaign in support of including the Hills within the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. However, inter-party clashes cannot be ruled out as, according to Subash Ghising’s followers, the GJMM activists are tearing off the GNLF flags in order to intimidate them.
“Our party flags have been torn off at several places and we are sure the GJMM activists are doing this to intimidate us. Such incidents have happened at Rock Garden and Dali in Darjeeling but we are determined to go ahead with the foundation day programme at any cost,” said a GNLF activist Mr Basant Subba. He said the party chief, Subash Ghising, has asked them to carry on with the programme regardless of everything. “We know the GJMM would pull all stops to obstruct it. But we are prepared to take the challenge head on,” he said.
Another party activist said the thrust of the foundation day programme would remain trained on reaching out to the people with the message that the inclusion of the Hills in the Sixth Schedule is the only option left with the GTA setup floundering. “We are invincibly opposed to the GTA, as it is a mockery of the Constitution-guaranteed power enshrined in the Sixth Schedule,” he said. When asked to comment on the GNLF allegation that the GJMM cadres are tearing off GNLF flags, the GJMM general secretary Binay Tamang said his party was least interested in the GNLF. “The common people have decisively rejected the party and its Sixth Schedule panacea,” he said.

GJMM-GNLF face-off likely today
Tension is likely at Gaaridhura tomorrow as the GJMM and the GNLF are both going to hold programmes in the town. The supporters of the GNLF are going to observe their party's foundation day tomorrow. The GJMM, after failing to obtain police permission to hold its proposed youth meeting at Gaaridhura, is organising a five-day puja there, instead.

200-kva generator gathers dust at hospital

200-kva generator gathers dust at hospital
Siliguri MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya  presented a 200-KVA generator to the Siliguri Hospital, as a back-up power supply during load-shedding, a few months ago. However, the generator is gathering dust at the hospital. The hospital does not know how to manage additional funds required to buy fuel in order to run the generator.

The electrical engineering division associated with the hospital does not have specific knowledge about how to install the generator and the necessary works to replace the old generators, which are presently operating at the hospital. According to officials associated with the hospital, there are two generators ~ one for the entire hospital and another for the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU). While the hospital authority is facing trouble in managing fuel costs for the existing generators, a new generator has been installed at the SNCU, as power supply is erratic at the unit due to a technical snag. Though the hospital took initiatives to resolve the fuel consumption disorder, the crisis persists.sns

BSF, BGB jawans exchange shots

BSF, BDR jawans exchange shots

2 April 2012
MALDA, 2 APRIL: India's Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) exchanged fire today on the border at Malik Sultanpur. It all started when some Bangladeshis made obscene remarks to Indian women bathing in the Pagla River on Sunday afternoon. The women protested and some men came to their rescue, but two of the men were abducted by Bangladeshis. BSF jawans fired at the Bangladeshis, and the BGB retaliated.
The villagers claimed 12-14 shots were fired, and said there were no casualties. BSF deputy commandant P P Singh said two blank rounds were fired after the abduction of the two Indians. A Bangladeshi was also abducted by Indians.
The abduction of the two Indians created a sensation in the village, and pressure mounted on the BSF's 134th Battalion to get them back.
Last night, the BSF made contact with the commandant of the BGB's 39th Battalion, Mr Habib Mostafa. They decided a flag meeting would be held today; it was held at Chakpara, and the captives were exchanged. A huge part of the border at Malik Sultanpur is unfenced, with the river serving as the only border between India and Chakpara of Chapai Nawabgaunj in Bangladesh. sns

Tea workers threaten strike

Tea workers threaten strike

2 April 2012
DARJEELING, 2 APRIL: Tea garden workers pressing for the cancellation of Mr Sushil Chowdhury's lease for the Ring Tong tea garden have threatened to start shutting down tea plantations in the Hills.
The 87 tea garden sub-units of Darjeeling Terai-Dooars Plantation Labourers Union calling for the cancelation of the lease say they will start an indefinite relay-shut-down all the tea plantation in the Hills, said union general secretary Suraj Subba. Today, the union sent a deputation to the additional district magistrate to make this clear. The union has not set a deadline for the lease cancellation, though ~ that will come later, Mr Subba said. Meanwhile, workers from the Ring Tong tea garden have been on an indefinite relay-hunger-strike for seven days, calling for the cancellation of the lease. Mr Subba said the High Court has scheduled a hearing on 4 April regarding the lease of the Ring Tong tea garden. Also, state commerce and industry minister Partha Chatterjee is expected to visit Darjeeling on 3 or 4 April, to look into the issue. The tea garden was officially closed in 1996 after a fire in the factory. An agreement was reached in 1997 to keep the tea-picking work going until 2002. "In the previous agreement, it was mentioned that the workers would only get salaries but not fringe and other benefits. Compared to the workers of other tea gardens, the agreement was not fair," said Mr Subba. The tea garden was completely shut down after 2006, when the union found the owner had been running the garden and "exploiting the rights of the workers and had illegally extended the lease up to 2032," said Mr Subba.
Mr Mohammed Rizwan, the joint labour commissioner for the north Bengal zone, summoned Mr Chowdhury on 27 March to Siliguri to resolve the situation, but Mr Chowdhury did not appear. Mr Rizwan said Ring Tong has 312 labourers, but the union has documentation showing the employees strength at the tea garden is 933, said union leader Milan Pradhan. “However, only 333 have been getting a grant of Rs 1,500 per month by the government,” he said. sns

Move to bring back courts to Darjeeling Hills

Move to bring back courts to Darjeeling Hills

2 April 2012
DARJEELING, 2 APRIL: As part of its effort to bring the CBI court ~ and other courts ~ back to Darjeeling, the bar association here plans to approach GJMM chief Bimal Gurung for support.
Lawyers from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong today met and decided to continue their cease-work until all the courts shifted out of the district are brought back to Darjeeling. The lawyers have been unsuccessfully protesting the establishment in Siliguri of the CBI court, which was once located in Darjeeling. Mr JN Patel, chief justice of Kolkata High Court, rejected their complaints on 26 March, and laid  the inauguration stone for the court at Siliguri on 31 March. "We strongly condemn the recent announcement by the state law ministry that it’s useless to have CBI court in Darjeeling, and the laying of its foundation at Siliguri," said Darjeeling Bar Association president Taranga Pandit. "We will soon send a deputation to the chief justice of the Supreme Court in Delhi and ~ if necessary ~ we will also meet the chief minister, to recommend the return of not only the CBI court but also the labours tribunal, land reforms tribunal and other courts that have been shifted from Darjeeling," Mr Pandit said.
"The lawyers from Kalimpong and Kurseong have also joined us to conduct a cease-work in other sub-divisional offices, protesting the shifting of the courts ... our cease-work will continue until our demand is met." Shifting the courts from Darjeeling to other places would result in "a loss of jurisdictional power from Darjeeling and its people," said association vice president Seshmani Gurung. Darjeeling currently has seven courts: those of the district and sessions judge, the additional district and sessions judge, the civil judge (senior division), the chief judicial magistrate, and the judicial magistrate. sns

GTF slams move on additional areas

GTF slams move on additional areas

1 April 2012
DARJEELING, 1 APRIL: The Gorkhaland Task Force, a conglomerate of political and social organisations, today said the additional areas from the Terai and the Dooars proposed to be included in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act would run counter to the concept of Gorkhaland.
Further they maintained that the organisation would hold seminars and conferences in Kolkata and Delhi from August on the separate statehood demand. “If the additional areas from the Terai-Dooars region are included in the GTA Act it would completely disfigure the Gorkhaland map,” said GTF president Mr Enos Das Pradhan
Speaking about their programmes, Mr Pradhan said that “the non-Nepali population in the country is still not aware of the demand for a separate state. Our main aim is to make these people aware and understand the issue of statehood and take them into confidence.” The Gorkhaland Task Force, comprises apolitical organisations like the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh  and the Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha and political outfits like the All India Gorkha League, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist and the GNLF(C).
The GTF also opposed the idea of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, maintaining that it would not fulfil the aspirations of the Gorkhas living in the country. “The GTA is but a temporary arrangement and does not fulfil the real aspirations of the Gorkhas living not only in Darjeeling but also in the entire country,” said Mr Pradhan.
“The state government is falsely projecting and claiming that the Hills problems have been solved by the GTA which is a completely wrong message being sent to the country,” Mr Pradhan added. It may be mentioned here that the GTF was recently termed as a terrorist outfit by Morcha president Bimal Gurung for opposing the GTA. In fact, he had termed the organisation as a terrorist outfit bent on disturbing peace of the Hills. sns