Darjeeling, June 26: The Centre and the state might preferably appoint a retired judge, in keeping with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s demand for a neutral chairperson, to head the committee that would determine the territorial jurisdiction of the new administrative set-up envisaged for the hills.
The Morcha wants the new administrative set-up for the Darjeeling hills to have territorial jurisdiction over the Gorkha-dominated areas of the Terai and the Dooars as well. During an earlier agreement between the state officials and the Morcha, a consensus had been reached to form a committee that would look into the party’s demand.
The panel will have four representatives of the hill party and three of the state government. The Centre would be represented by the director of census. The district magistrates of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri would be also on the committee.
Anil Verma, the administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council that now runs the hills, will be the convener of the committee.
The details on the chairperson had not been disclosed. Sources in the home ministry, however, maintained that the state wanted a retired judge to head the committee.
L.B. Pariyar, who is likely to be one of the four Morcha members on the committee, said: “We have not heard anything from the state government as of now. However, the state had earlier talked about appointing a neutral person to head the committee.”
The nomination of a “neutral” person acceptable to the Morcha could be an issue. “The Morcha would definitely want to be doubly sure that the person heading the committee is not seen toeing the state’s line on the issue. Territory after all is a major issue for the hill party now,” said an observer.
The agreement on the new administrative set-up is likely to be signed only after the committee on territory is finalised. Asked if the process of forming the committee on territory was getting delayed because of the chairperson issue, Pariyar answered in the negative. “I don’t think it is really getting delayed as the committee has been given time till December to submit its report,” said Pariyar.
The Morcha is also treading carefully and has not yet announced the names of its members to be on the committee. The Terai unit of the party has, however, endorsed the name of Pariyar and Shankar Adhikari, the party’s Terai convener, as the region’s representative. There is no word about the representatives from the Dooars as yet.
At the moment, the Morcha does not seem to be in a hurry to go in for a settlement. “The state is in a hurry… but we are not as our objective is to ensure that whatever we want is granted to us irrespective of the time it takes,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, Morcha MLA from Kalimpong.
Till the new body is formed, the Morcha is willing to help run the DGHC. The three MLAs from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong have already joined the board of DGHC administrators on June 22.
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you! What's on your mind?