Gorkha agreement gives more administrative powers to hill body

Darjeeling: A tripartite agreement was signed Monday between the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), the West Bengal government and the federal government paving the way for the formation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
The signing ceremony was organised in a Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) resort at Pintail Village in Sukna, Kurseong. The event was attended by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, federal home minister P. Chidambaram, leaders of GJM and top bureaucrats from New Delhi and state capital Kolkata.
The area had been decorated ahead of the ceremony and the people of the hills said they were looking forward this agreement in hope that it would bring long-lasting change to the region. People dressed in traditional attire received the chief minister and other dignitaries and the whole area was decked up for this historic moment.
"The people of Darjeeling were eagerly waiting for the agreement. This treaty will bring development in the hills," GJM spokesman and legislator Harka Bhadur Chetri said.
Statehood demand
The GJM, however, said it has not gone back on its demand for Gorkhaland and called the pact the "foundation of a separate state".
There was speculation that GJM chief Bimal Gurung would opt out of the signing ceremony due to resentment among a section of hill people that he had scaled down his demand for statehood. Gurung, however, was present, lending hope that peace would finally prevail in the Darjeeling Hills.
Earlier it was announced general secretary Roshan Giri would will sign the pact on the GJM's behalf.
Home Minister Chidambaram, announced a special package of Rs6 billion (Dh493 million) to the new body from the federal government, which however, would have no rights to impose any new taxes except the right to renew licences of the existing tea gardens.
The GTA would have authority to recruit Class-III and Class-IV employees. It will have to seek approval of the West Bengal governor to appoint any new officer.
At the core of the pact is the formation of a new autonomous elected hill council, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, armed with more powers compared to its former avatar, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, formed in the late 1980s.
A nine-member high-powered committee, comprising four members each from GJM and the state government and one from the central government, will be formed to study the GJM's demand on demarcating the Gorkha majority areas in the Terai (plains) and Dooars (foothills of the Himalayas) for inclusion in the council.
However, the erstwhile ruling CPI(M) leaders boycotted the event as they claimed they did not have sufficient information about the treaty and are completely in the dark.
"We were invited, but since nothing is known we did not attend it," Surjya Kanta Mishra, leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly told Gulf News.