KOLKATA, 2 SEPT: The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill, 2011 was today passed in the state Assembly with the government accepting most of the demands of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM). The GJMM insisted that it was not giving up its demand for a separate state and chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee asserted that the state's territorial integrity would remain intact. She urged the Opposition not to raise the bogey that the formation of the GTA would create disaffection among the Hills and the plains people. The chief minister also announced that the panchayati raj system would be introduced in the Hills ensuring that there is no conflict between the GTA and the panchayat bodies. The state government, she said, had already apprised the Centre of the matter so that the Constitution could be suitably amended. The state government moved a series of amendments, including insertion of the words, “ethnic identity of Gorkhas established”, in the preamble of the Bill, and dropped the term “Sabha”. It accepted the GJMM’s demands for giving Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) “administrative and financial” powers along with executive powers. The amendment also barred the transfer of the principal secretary to the GTA within a period of two years without the consent of the GTA. It also allowed the GTA to create posts equivalent to government Group-D staff and make regulations relating to their service conditions with the approval of the government. The state government accepted the GJMM’s demand that the quorum of the GTA should not be more than one-third of the total number of members and it said there would be no provision for nominating any member to the GTA by the Governor. One of the amendments read, the chief executive of the GTA would resign from office by giving notice in writing, addressed to the Governor, instead of the chief minister. The government turned down the Leader of the Opposition’s move to refer the GTA Bill to a select committee for a detailed review. It also turned down amendments for renaming the Act as Darjeeling Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act, 2011. A division demanded by the Opposition on omitting the clause of constituting a committee for examining the question of identification and transfer of additional areas of Siliguri, Terai and Dooars to the region, was turned down by 159 to 45 votes. Miss Banerjee took exception to the Opposition's alarmist posturing over the formation of the committee for exploring the possibilities of inclusion of the Terai and the Dooars in the GTA. “It’s you (the Opposition) who are trying to sow seeds of discord in the Hills. When we signed the agreement for solving the problems in the Hills, the Opposition called a bandh there and tried to mislead the people about our plan to settle the dispute,” she said. Mr Harkabahadur Chhetri (GJMM MLA) thanked the chief minister and her government for expediting the peace process in the Hills. “We have come out of the situation created by the Left Front government with much difficulty,” he said. Locals celebrate DARJEELING, 2 SEPT: People across the Darjeeling Hills today celebrated the passage of the GTA Bill in the state Assembly. The common refrain here is: “It would restore peace and usher in development in the long-restless Hills.” The GJMM activists celebrated the event by bursting firecrackers and taking out rallies. Several of them were found dancing to traditional Gorkha tunes. The main ‘victory’ congregation was held at Chowrasta, known as the hub of the hill-town. “We are glad that the Bill has been passed today. The peace-loving people in the Hills are now looking forward to the constitution of the GTA through elections. The Hills needs development and peace above everything,” said Mr Vikram Rai, a local resident. The people thanked the CM for passing the Bill. But beneath the surface glee and celebration, there is a lurking apprehension lest the GTA follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the DGHC. “The responsibility of the GJMM has increased manifolds. We all have to be vigilant all through to prevent the body from degenerating and getting bogged down in the cesspool of corruption and authoritarianism in the way the DGHC was discredited in the collective perception. The state should bring the GTA under the Lokayukta to check corruption,” Miss Sulochana Thapa, an NGO worker, said. ambika pradhan Source: The Statesman
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