Darjeeling-based political leader Ajoy Edwards, president of the Hamro Party, has urged chief minister Mamata Banerjee to address pressing issues affecting the region under the jurisdiction of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at Bagdogra this afternoon and left for Darjeeling, where she will attend several meetings focused on development in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), starting tomorrow.
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This meeting comes in response to growing unrest among tea workers, who have been protesting under the banner of over eight trade unions.
The Tea Workers’ Protection Committee (Chiya Shramik Suraksha Samiti) in Darjeeling has called for an indefinite bandh in the Hills starting Monday after the tripartite meeting convened by the Labour Department ended inconclusively today over the demand for a 20 per cent Puja bonus for workers in the 87 Hill tea gardens.
The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has taken an in-principle decision not to allow setting up of fresh hydropower projects in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
A former GNLF (Gorkha National Liberation Front) activist Bhawesh Bhujel, resident of Kalimpong, has informed the President of India Droupadi Murmu that a group of Gorkhas will start 'fast unto death' under Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) area demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland from 22 August. Mr Bhujel has written a letter to the President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention in resolving the issue amicably.
"The economy has gone down, and we should lift it up," she said, reiterating that elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), panchayat and the three other hill municipalities would be held, and that the elected representatives should do good work.
"When the Relief Fund was initiated, the GTA had taken a resolution to share its own matching grant against the donated amount as per an official statement, which would take the amount up to Rs 4 crore and 24 lakh,"
The GNLF claim comes amid discontentment in the Hills when it comes to the BJP, which is accused of not keeping its promises even after the region helped the party win three consecutive parliamentary elections.
