The Telegraph

Darjeeling, July 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced a 12-hour relaxation in its indefinite strike tomorrow.

Announcing the decision, Morcha general secretary, Roshan Giri said the strike would be relaxed from 6am to 6pm. “The people as well as the tea gardens need to stock up on essential items.”

The party has also decided to distribute rice and cooking oil to people living below poverty line in a move aimed at mitigating the hassles they are facing because of the indefinite strike.

Bimal Gurung, the president of the Morcha, said: “We will distribute rice and oil to families living below poverty line at various places like Darjeeling, Ghum, Kalimpong and Kurseong. The strike has inconvenienced our supporters but we have to carry on with the agitation for a greater cause.”

Sources said the Morcha had stocked at least 2,500 quintals of rice for the distribution on Sunday. The amount of edible oil it has in its possession is, however, not yet known. The edible items will be distributed at the Gymkhana Club in Darjeeling.

With the strike entering its 12th day, most of the residents are going without green vegetables and are relying largely on potatoes. Green vegetables are rare in most households and many residents of the town are seen going to villagers to buy whatever green vegetables they can lay their hands on. “Things are not cheap in the villages also. The farmers have hiked the prices of vegetables they grow,” said a resident of the town.

“Even though, there was a 10-hour relaxation in the strike on Monday, we could not buy more essential items as the town had run out of supplies,” said Kubirman Rai, a resident. Traders said even though they had placed the orders, the supplies could not reach in time.

“The relaxation was only till 6pm while our stocks arrived around 4pm. It took us a lot of time to unload the items because of crowds and we could not sell out our commodities on time,” said another trader. The Morcha’s initiative to deliver rice and oil is expected to help some families but many said another day-long relaxation was very much needed.

Many tea planters also said even though the gardens had been kept out of the bandh’s purview, the distribution of rationed items was stopped. This is largely because the Morcha has not allowed movement of other vehicles carrying either fuel or ration to ply in the gardens.