GTA talks in Calcutta next week,20, 21 Nov keys dates for hills, gjmm

Roshan Giri addresses a meeting at Bijanbari
Dajeeling, Nov. 13: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will seek 29 amendments to the GTA Act for proper functioning of the autonomous hill body during talks with the state and later central officials in Calcutta next week.
The meeting between the Morcha and the Bengal government will be held on November 20, and the tripartite talks involving the party, the state and the Centre are scheduled for the next day.
It is not clear yet who will represent the Centre at the talks.
“I have just received a letter which states that the bipartite and tripartite meetings will be held in Calcutta on November 20 and 21, respectively. The meetings have been called to review the problems that are being faced by the GTA Sabha,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha and also an executive member of the GTA Sabha.
Sources said during both the meetings, the Morcha leadership would raise the demand to bring 29 amendments to the GTA Act.
“The amendments are necessary for the proper functioning of the GTA Sabha. Primary among the amendments is reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the GTA elections as well as quota for the two sections in jobs.
Members of Scheduled Castes comprise 33.72 per cent of the population in the Darjeeling hills. The Scheduled Tribes form 9.32 per cent of the population.
Giri told a public meeting at Bijanbari, 35km from here, today that issues such as granting of ST status to all hill communities (except SCs), inclusion of the GTA in the North East Council, establishment of a central university and transfer of reserved forest to the GTA would be discussed at the bipartite and tripartite talks.
The Morcha leader also said the review of cases registered against party activists during the Gorkhaland agitation from 2007 to 2011, as agreed upon in the GTA memorandum of agreement, would also be raised at the Calcutta meetings.
“We are working on a strategy to strengthen the GTA so that it will help achieve a separate state of Gorkhaland,” said Giri. He stressed that the Morcha had not dropped the demand of Gorkhaland, as laid down in the GTA MoA.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had promised the Morcha during her visit to the hills in October that the state government would hold bipartite and tripartite talks in November. Her visit helped improve the relationship between the state and the Morcha.
That there is a thaw in the relations between the GTA and the state could be gauged from the fact that the Darjeeling district administration met the representatives of the hill body to discuss the creation of 10 new blocks in the GTA area.
At the moment, there are three blocks each in Darjeeling and Kalimpong subdivisions and two in Kurseong subdivision.(TT)



Tripartite meet scheduled to discuss various issues

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Darjeeling, 13 November:
A GJMM delegation will soon leave for Kolkata for the scheduled meetings to be held on the Darjeeling tangle ~ a bipartite meeting on 20 November and a tripartite one the next day ~ said the senior party leader, Mr Roshan Giri.
“During the bipartite meeting, we would take up issues like regularisation of the GTA employees, quota-reservation for SCs/STs in the GTA, amendments required in the GTA Act and similar other pending works,” he said while addressing a public meeting in Bijanbari, around 35 km from Darjeeling.
“At the tripartite meeting, we would raise the same demands that were included in the memorandum served on the President, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, during his Darjeeling visit,” added Mr Giri.  The demands that were incorporated in the memorandum are ~ inclusion of Darjeeling Hills in the North Eastern Council, release of the arrested GTA members/supporters, ST status for all the Hill-based communities, except the SCs, transfer of reserve forest to the GTA and a Central university for the Hills.
“We have not given up demand for Gorkhaland. We would take the demand to Delhi by staging rallies and sit-ins for three days ~ 13, 14 and 15 December. A thousand supporters would represent each of the GTA constituencies. Mr Bimal Gurung would lead these programmes,” he said adding that development through the GTA would be their stepping stone to Gorkhaland.
It is learnt that the party would stage a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on 13 November, followed by a rally from Jantar Mantar to the the Parliament and another from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar in the next two days.(SNS)

GTA talks in Calcutta next week,20, 21 Nov keys dates for hills, gjmm - Tripartite meet scheduled to discuss various issues

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