Morcha plan for district rejig in GTA - Hill party to oppose Jalpaiguri division move at all-party meeting

Darjeeling, Aug. 2: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is likely to demand that the final Gorkhaland Territorial Administration area be divided into two districts: one consisting of the subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and parts of the Terai; the other comprising the Kalimpong subdivision and parts of the Dooars.

The party might moot the idea at the all-party meeting convened by the government in Calcutta tomorrow on renaming of the state and reorganisation of the districts.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung, along with general secretary Roshan Giri and central committee members, Jyoti Kumar Rai and Diwakar Gurung, today left for Calcutta to attend the meeting.

“We are going to attend the meeting. We will see what the government has to say. Our party president will attend the meeting and he might later meet the chief minister,” said Giri.

A Morcha central committee member told The Telegraph that the demand for the creation of two districts in the final GTA set-up was being considered by a section of the leadership.

“We are of the opinion that one district should be formed by merging the present Darjeeling and Kurseong subdivision with the areas in the Terai that can be brought under the jurisdiction of the GTA once the joint verification committee submits its report. The other district should comprise the Kalimpong subdivision, which is very large, and certain areas in the Dooars,” said the leader.

The committee was formed to study the Morcha’s demand to bring Gorkha majority areas in the Terai under the jurisdiction of the GTA.

The leader clarified that the Morcha would attend the meeting to get a clear picture on the state government’s opinion on the reorganisation of the districts. “Depending on how the discussion takes place, we will react with our proposals. If the discussion on the GTA areas does not take place, we might raise the demand for the creation of two districts on a later date. Our first priority is to get the GTA area finalised,” said the leader.

The Morcha will, however, definitely resist the reorganisation of the Jalpaiguri district until the joint verification panel drafts its report.

The government is looking at the possibility of forming a separate Alipurduar district by carving up the Jalpaiguri district. The Morcha, however, is of the opinion that as many Gorkha-dominated areas of the Dooars, like Madarihat and Kalchini block, presently fall in Alipurduar subdivision, Alipurduar district should not be created until the GTA’s territory is finalised.

The Morcha has demanded 199 mouzas each from the Dooars and the Terai for the GTA.

The central committee member has also said if two districts are created after the GTA territory is finalised, then areas under Siliguri Municipal Corporation, most of which do not have Gorkha dominated areas, could be transferred to the Jalpaiguri district or become part of a new Siliguri district.

This, observers, believe will solve a number of issues, including the implementation of the three-tier panchayat system in the hills as has been agreed by the state and the Centre in the GTA accord.

The implementation of the three-tier panchayat system could be a problem as the Constitution was amended in 1992 to set up a mahakuma parishad for Siliguri (which is equivalent to a zilla parishad). After the amendment, there have been only two tiers of panchayat for the three hill subdivisions. If a three-tier panchayat system is to be implemented, the mahakuma parishad has to be abolished as there is provision for only one zilla parishad in one district under the constitution.

“If the two districts are formed, a lot of these issues could be solved. After all, it makes little sense in trying to include areas in the plains, where there is no Gorkha population, in the GTA territory,” said the Morcha leader.

Asked if the hills’ sparse population could be a hurdle in the creation of the two districts within the GTA, the leader said: “We have been telling the government that the same yardstick cannot be taken for the hills and the plains. Look at Sikkim; it has four districts although the state’s population is less than that of the hills. The ratio of 1:4 must be considered while comparing the population of the hills and the plains,” said the leader.

~VIVEK CHHETRI 

TT