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Statesman News Service

GANGTOK, April 27: Miss Albina Lepcha, a teenaged girl left the audience spell bound when she tuned her violin piece “Mozart 23 II movement” as solo at the Defense Auditorium in Gangtok last night.

Albina, a fifteen-year-old orphan girl from Gandhi Ashram (an orphanage school) in Kalimpong, was very keen on learning violin and she started learning to play the instrument at the tender age of seven when she studied in class I. “Violin is my life and I am in madly in love with the instrument. I forget everything when I listen to the tune of violin,” she told The Statesman during a short interaction at the event. “I started learning to play the instrument at school as it was a part of our curriculum. But later on I fell in love with the instrument,” she added.

She along with her other friends has performed in Darjeeling and Kalimpong several times but played here in Gangtok for the first time. She narrated that this instrument may be her weak point. When asked that which other musical instrument appealed to her, she replied, “Piano would be the other instrument which I like listening to but do not have any idea about the technicalities of the instrument. It would be best if I continue to play violin so I pledge to continue playing it” she added.

Not only Albina but also the little ones from Army School drew an audience of 500-odd people including both army men and civilians.

The audience applauded the children for their efforts during the performance. The Army School also had a choir and an orchestra amid the programme, which was started by Gandhi Ashram from Kalimpong.

Gandhi Ashram began with Ay Mere Watan Key Logo, Johnny’s Apple Eat Sweet and a medley of Hindi film songs, which really enthralled the audience.

The army school did not lag behind and performed a full version of Ramayana called Ram Baan in their theatre show.
State Governor Mr Sudarshan Agarwal and chief justice Mr AN Ray along with state army chief GOC Mr KVS Lolotra also graced the occasion. “It really mesmerised me when Gandhi Ashram performed the solo piece on violin and orchestra” said Mr Sudarshan Agarwal state Governor.

“Students should be given more time by their parents and teachers should guide them well for future” he added.
Mr Agarwal also felicitated some teachers and performers and appreciated them at the end of the function.

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Kalimpong, April 25: From Monday, tourists to Kalimpong will have to hire local taxis to visit the various sites in and around town, paying fixed rates that are higher than the fares offered by some hotels here.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-affiliated taxi-owners and drivers’ association has initiated the move to safeguard its members’ business interests.

“Out-station vehicles can ferry tourists to the town, but cannot take them on sight-seeing trips,” said T. D. Bhutia, the president of the Janmukti Morcha Chalak Mahasangh. He added that the decision was taken after discussing the matter with other tourism stakeholders like travel agents and hotel owners.

Bhutia said vehicles would charge between Rs 600 and Rs 800 for each trip covering 11 tourist points between Durpin and Deolo. “The move is also aimed at ensuring uniform rates. Earlier, we were often accused of short-changing tourists because some hotels used to charge sight-seeing fares that were lower than the market rate,” he added.

Some hotel owners said the new arrangement would not make much difference to them. “We mostly hired local taxis for our guests anyway,” said Sanjogita Subba, the president of Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association of Kalimpong.

Others, however, disagreed. “Hotels who make their own arrangements for their guests usually charge them around Rs 500 for the trip,” said a source.

Tour operators in Siliguri also appeared surprised.

“Look, the good thing about Kalimpong was that tourists could go in sight-seeing trips on vehicles of their choice. The new decision taken midway through the tourist season will not only inconvenience them, but also add to their travel costs,” said Samrat Sanyal, the secretary of the Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators’ Association, over the phone from Siliguri.

Sanyal added that it would have been much better if all stakeholders had discussed the issue at the end of the current tourist season before arriving at a decision.

www.telegraphindia.com

Kalimpong, April 24: The Guardians’ Forum for Education has decided to launch a vigorous campaign to pressure the Bengal government to set up a District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here for improving the standard of basic education in the hills.

Although DIET s have been set up in almost all the districts of the country on the recommendation of the National Education Policy, 1986, Darjeeling is yet to have one. The state government had once toyed with the idea of setting up a DIET at the Basic Teachers’ Training Institute in Darjeeling but the project did not materialise.

“We have come to know that the government has dropped the idea of setting up a Diet in the hills on grounds of inadequate infrastructure. However, we believe the institute can easily come up on the campus of the Basic Teachers’ Training Institute, spread across 9.5 acres here” said Tara Sundas, the convener of the forum. (more…)

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Kalimpong, April 22: A Lepcha youth association in Kalimpong has decided to organise another march to Dzongu some time soon as part of its protests against the setting up of mega hydel power projects there.

The Rong Ong Prongzom will also take up the cause of Dzongu with like-minded organisations in different parts of the country. “Medha Patkar (activist) has invited us to take part in a joint dharna against the Land-Acquisition Bill, 2007 and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2007 in New Delhi from April 28 to 30. During our stay in the capital, we will interact with representatives of different organisations from various parts of the country who are expected to take part in the dharna,” said Dorjee Lepcha, the president of the association.

The proposed march comes close on the heels of the recent aborted pilgrimage-on-foot to Dzongu that was undertaken by the Lepchas of the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim. The residents of the hill state turned hostile and the Sikkim government persuaded the marchers to turn back.

Unlike the previous march, which began at Tribeni, the confluence of the Teesta and Rangit, 16km from here, the next march will start from Rangpo on the Bengal-Sikkim border.

-by Nirnay John Chettri, MARG (Mankind in Action for Rural Growth).

In the hills of North Bengal under the Kalimpong region lies a tiny village of Dukka and Tandrebong where most of the villagers are farmers. Here the main crop is cardamom and ginger which is their cash crop, but lately it has not been giving a good yield because of the prevailing local virus called “Suirey”. This has been a great setback for the economy there.

Although mankind has been rapidly moving towards development, there are certain places where it has taken a U turn because of the rough terrain, peoples’ attitude towards villages and the corruption. YES, the villagers of Dukka and Tandrebong are bearing this wound since a long time. Till date this village is left without a motorable road and electricity which is the basic need towards development.

After getting no response and help from the government, the local panchayat and other authorities, the villagers of Dukka and Tandrabong have stood up and have joined hands in constructing a motorable road which would connect Dukka and Tandrabong to the nearest small town Algarah and make life easier for the villagers living there. This road would be a lifeline for Dukka and Tandrebong.

Since 24th Nov 07 every month the villagers gather in a group of 200 and give one day of their manual labour in constructing the road which passes through the rough terrain of cardamom fields, streams and cliff. The day starts early on that specific day and friends and relatives of that neighboring village walk for approx two to three hours to give a helping hand to the villagers of Dukka and Tandrebong.

On 12th April 08, villagers from Dukka and Tandrebong had gathered again. This was the 7th time they had come together to construct the road. Members from Mankind in Action for Rural Growth (MARG) a local NGO from Darjeeling along with some volunteers set up early from Darjeeling on that very day to encourage and support the villagers working in constructing the road.

The villagers comprising of men and women, old and young were very happy and thankful to MARG for coming and supporting and encouraging them. It was the first time ever that an NGO had come forward to support their cause. The refreshment which was sponsored by the MARG team for the villagers was appreciated by them and in return the elders of the village thanked MARG and its volunteers by offering Khadas.

We all are so engrossed in our own busy life and we fail to realize the pains of our brothers and sisters who are facing in the far flung remote villages in the hills. Let us come forward and support them in our own way, guide them in whatever way we can. Your small initiative can IGNITE a SMILE.

MARG in a special way would like to thank Mr. Sagar Pradhan (Ex Tea Garden Manager), Mr. Arun Pradhan (Secretary Pradhan Samaj Darjeeling), Mr. Manish Pradhan, Mr. Ranjan Pradhan, Mr. Sudip Tamang, Dorjee and Edu Chettri for volunteering in going to Dukka and supporting the villagers.

If you would like to send in your contribution to the villagers of Dukka and Tandrebong then please contact MARG at inform.marg@gmail.com or nirnay.john@gmail.com.

Nirnay John Chettri

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Kalimpong, April 16: DGHC administrator B.L. Meena has agreed to take up landslide prevention work in the hills on a priority basis. He, however, cautioned that it would take time to accomplish the onerous task.

After meeting representatives of NGOs like Citizen Rights Forum, Kalimpong, and Save The Hills, Meena said the Bengal government has already identified roads, drinking water, rural electrification, education and health as priority areas, and landslide prevention would be added to the list.

“We will have to consult government experts on disaster management. We will start working on it, but it will take time,” Meena said.

The DGHC administrator, however, added that the forced closure of government offices would only cause further delay in development work. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has begun an indefinite shutdown in all government offices in the hills from Monday.

“Clearly, the DGHC administration can do nothing much if offices continue to remain closed like this,” agreed N. P. Dixit, the president of the rights forum. Dixit and his team in their meeting with Meena suggested five priority areas for him to work on. While road, water and electricity were common areas of intent, the rights body also suggested agriculture and landslides.

“We also suggested setting up of review committees in all the three hill subdivisions to oversee the implementation of development work,” said Dixit.

Meena, on his part, said he would welcome any arrangement that would ensure transparency.

The decision of the administrator to meet teams of citizens was hailed as a welcome change from the style of functioning of the previous regime.

“Let alone common citizens, the previous administrator (GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh) did not even entertain the views of his own party members,” said an NGO representative who met Meena today.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, April 15: A private telecom company has dug up long stretches of the most important road running through the subdivision to lay optical fibre cables, raising the spectre of a commuters’ nightmare if the task is not completed before the onset of monsoon.

Vodafone Essar Ltd is laying the cables from Chitrey on NH31A to Pedong via Kalimpong town and from there up to the Sikkim border. The existing drains alongside the road are being dug up for the work and already, transport operators and commuters are complaining about how narrow and dusty the stretches have become.

“Many parts of the road were only recently repaired after they were damaged during monsoon last year. Now, it is back to square one,” said Pranay Thapa, a driver.

However, both the mobile company and the Bengal public works department (PWD), which maintains the 29km stretch from Chitrey to Algarah (Lower Rishi and Upper Rishi Roads), promised to complete the major part of the work before the rains.

“The company has deposited about Rs 72 lakh with us. As soon as they finish laying the cables, we will begin constructing the drains and repair the stretches of the road that might have been damaged because of the digging,” said Nihir Kanti Biswas, the executive engineer of the PWD’s north Bengal construction division.

“We will employ a strong work force and should complete our part of the work within 15-20 days of taking up the job,” said Biswas.

An official of the mobile firm told The Telegraph over the phone from Calcutta that most of the work would be over before the rains arrive in early June. “Thereafter, work will be taken up only along small stretches,” the official added.

Environment activists here, however, are not willing to take the assurances at face value.

“We will take up the matter with the administration. Here we are crying ourselves hoarse about the choked jhoras (streams) that trigger landslides and these people dig up the channels alongside the road,” said Praful Rao, the convener of Save The Hills, an NGO.

P.T. Sherpa, the subdivisional officer of Kalimpong, has already sounded a warning to the PWD, asking them to complete the work soon.

“The roads are already in a mess. If they don’t complete the work quickly, I may have to initiate administrative action,” said Sherpa.

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Gangtok, April 15: The Sikkim government has voiced its concern about the Lepcha marchers from Kalimpong and Darjeeling who are headed for Dzongu in the North district to protest against mega hydel power projects being set up there.

The Lepcha community considers Dzongu “holy land”. The marchers, who claim they are on a pilgrimage, today reached Dikchu in North Sikkim.

“The state government has noted with concern the ‘tour’ being organised by a group of people from Darjeeling, Bengal, to Dzongu, North Sikkim…. Such a ‘tour’ has never been undertaken in the past…ostensibly for the purpose of pilgrimage, (it) is being actively supported by individuals and groups who have been voicing their opposition to the hydel projects for several months or those opposed to the present government,” a statement issued by the Sikkim government read. (more…)

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Darjeeling, April 11: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced a recruitment drive for “Gorkhaland Police”, a force that the party says will be trained to do “social work”.

Those who have not exceeded 30 years are eligible to apply. The volunteers, however, will not get any salary.

During the Gorkhaland agitation in the eighties, the GNLF, too, had its own force, the Gorkha Volunteer Cell, commonly known as the GVC, which had been raised to fight the CRPF then deployed in the Darjeeling hills.

Morcha leaders said their “police force”, complete with uniform, the colour of which is yet to be decided, and khukuri did not go against their idea of democratic struggle.

“The khukuri is our community’s identity and should not be misrepresented as a symbol of armed struggle. We still believe in the democratic form of protest and our force will be trained to do social work,” said Binay Tamang, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha. (more…)