GTA(Gorkhaland Territorial Administration) to vet projects

Darjeeling, Aug. 13.TT: The GTA today decided to go in for a detailed analysis of ongoing projects being undertaken by various departments before firming up its development vision.

Bimal Gurung, its chief executive, and 14 executive members held a meeting with GTA officials at Bhanu Bhavan in Darjeeling to understand the issues that needed immediate focus.

After the meeting, Gurung said: “We basically wanted to know the present state of affairs in the hills from various departments. I have instructed the finance secretary to provide us with a detailed report which, he is likely to submit within the next three to four days.”

Saumitra Mohan, principal secretary of the GTA, said: “The chief executive sought a report from all the departments today and we had a detailed discussion on tourism.”

It is learnt that the GTA was looking at the analysis of funds at its disposal. “We want to know the details of the ongoing projects, the amount which has been committed to these projects and the surplus amount with the GTA,” said Mohan.

The authorities believe the fund analysis would be important before announcing new projects as many of the schemes which were launched by the now defunct DGHC have to be completed by the GTA.

“Once the inventory of the tourism projects is worked out, we will have a clear picture of the projects that have become a liability. We will then have to work towards converting this liability into assets by charting ways to improve the income from these projects,” said Mohan.

The GTA’s decision to study the state of ongoing projects before announcing new ones is a departure from the common practice of new administrators unveiling a development vision. Till date, the GTA has only announced one project: a 10-bed hospital at Takling, about 45km from Darjeeling, at an approximate cost of Rs 1.03 crore.

The GTA will receive a grant of Rs 200 crore for the next three years from the Centre. A GTA official said they had already written to the Centre regarding the special package and was hopeful that the funds would be transferred by the month-end.

Gurung said GTA members, along with the principal secretary, would meet the Prime Minister, Union home minister, governor and the chief minister on various issues soon.

Today’s meeting was also attended by the chairpersons of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik municipalities and sources said the GTA Sabha also wanted to explore ways to better civic services in towns.