www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

Siliguri, March 29: Stakeholders of the tea industry are keeping their fingers crossed over the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s demand that the Centre hand over the legislative powers of 124 subjects, including tea, to a proposed interim regional authority.

“It is too early to comment and it is better to wait and see what shape the proposed authority finally takes,” said Rajah Banerjee, the owner of Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling. “We are aware that discussions are on but unless some concrete development occurs, we cannot comment.”

Although Banerjee refused to speak further, other planters said the Morcha demand did not hold much rationale.

“The tea industry throughout India is governed by a specific set of rules and regulations with some norms being controlled jointly by the Centre and the respective state governments,” a planter said. (more…)

The Telegraph

March 29: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today said it was “happy” at the outcome of the official-level tripartite meeting held in Delhi to sort out areas of “agreement and disagreement” before the next round of political talks to be held in mid-May.

“Many of our demands have been agreed upon and this is something positive, we are happy,” said Morcha central committee member Amar Lama, who was present at the meeting with five other hill party members. “The officials have said many issues raised by us could be accepted.” Lama, however, did not elaborate on what had been agreed upon. (more…)

Save The Hills has a new post regarding a recent survey of landslide activity near Kalimpong Town area.

The Telegraph
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, March 28: The Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation has called for changes in the rules for the recruitment of teachers to the three schools wholly run by the government in the hills.

In a memorandum faxed to education minister Partha Dey today, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-affiliated union said in the absence of permanent teachers in Darjeeling Government High School, Kalimpong Government High School and Saradeshwari Government High School in Darjeeling, ad hoc teachers had been appointed with the approval of the DGHC. (more…)

The Telegraph
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, March 28: A six-member delegation of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today left for Delhi following a sudden invitation from the Union home ministry, an indication that the Centre is hoping to tie up the loose ends of the agreement for the interim set-up so that a deal is inked — or a concrete result announced — at the next round of talks in May.

In the meeting to be held tomorrow with home ministry officials, the Morcha will, on its part, convey the “revisions” it wants in the “secret proposal” — submitted to home minister P. Chidambaram earlier — and discuss the territory that will come under the interim set-up. The hill party wants the interim arrangement to remain in place till December 2011, after the elections to the Bengal Assembly are over.

“All key issues on the interim council will be discussed. Apart from the territory, we will also place a demand that the interim authority should have legislative powers over 124 subjects,” said Morcha president Bimal Gurung at a public meeting in Kurseong today. (more…)

Here are some more historical photographs from the time of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Kalimpong in 1952.

(Check out the first set of photos here.)

Jawaharlal Nehru & Indira Gandhi visiting the School for the Blind. Kalimpong, April 1952.

Students of the School for the Blind during Nehru’s visit. Kalimpong, April 1952.

The Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru & daughter Indira Gandhi with others at Dr. Graham’s Homes at Kalimpong which he visited on April 30, 1952.

The Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with students of Dr. Graham’s Homes at Kalimpong which he visited on April 30, 1952.

(more…)

The Telegraph

Siliguri, March 26: The GNLF today accused the state government of ignoring the plight of its supporters, alleging that around 200 families had been hounded out of the hills and their houses ransacked or torched by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ever since its emergence almost three years ago.

It also said the government had trashed the order of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directing the administration to ensure that all GNLF supporters returned home safely.

“The Morcha leaders and their followers have either torched or ransacked at least 65 houses of our supporters spread across the three hill subdivisions. Also, more than 200 families have been terrorised and forced to leave the hills by the Morcha. They are spending their days outside their homes, and the state government and police remain mute spectators,” said the GNLF’s Kalimpong branch president, Dawa Pakhrin. (more…)

The Telegraph

Darjeeling, March 25: The Darjeeling district committee of the BJP today adopted a resolution for the creation of Gorkhaland and announced that the party would organise political programmes in favour of statehood.

“Jaswant Singh had won the elections as a BJP candidate. The hill people had voted him for a separate state. Now, we find that the party (Gorkha Janmukti Morcha) which was spearheading the movement is talking about an interim set-up. The Morcha seems to have taken rest but we have decided to go ahead with the agitation,” said Dawa Sherpa, who today relieved his charge as the working president of the district committee. (more…)

The Telegraph
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, March 25: The state government has agreed to notify soon a five-member board for the regularisation of services of adhoc teachers and the non-teaching staff in government-aided schools in the hills.

The assurance was given today at a meeting of the leaders of the Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation (JSTO), education department officials and a representative of the DGHC in Calcutta.

The JSTO spokesperson, Bhisan Roka, told The Telegraph over the phone from Calcutta that additional chief secretary (education), Vikram Sen, had directed the DGHC to send a proposal for the constitution of the board at the earliest. The DGHC was represented by Sonam Bhutia, an additional district magistrate of Darjeeling.

The five-member board comprising two members from the field of education, two others recommended by the DGHC and a person of eminence from the hills will scrutinise the qualifications of the adhoc teaching and non-teaching staff and recommend their appointments.

Roka said the DGHC was expected to send its proposal by next week.
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www.kalimpong.info

The Telegraph

Darjeeling, March 25: Bimal Gurung has threatened to “let loose the GLP” on the administration if it does not stop harassing the common people in the hills. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president has also promised Rs 3 lakh each to families of Gorkhaland Personnel if they are killed during the statehood agitation that the party is spearheading.

“If the GLP members die during the agitation, the party will provide a compensation of Rs 3 lakh (each) to the next of kin,” Gurung told a gathering of party workers at the Ambotia tea garden, 50km from Darjeeling and in Kurseong subdivision, yesterday.

Soon after announcing the compensation, Gurung warned the state government against “continuously conducting raids and harassing the public in Kurseong”. (more…)

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, March 24: The Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation will demand a phase-wise regularisation of jobs rather than insisting on the fulfilment of its entire wish-list when its representatives meet senior officials of the education department in Calcutta tomorrow.

A seven-member team of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-affiliated union today left for Calcutta for the talks on the demand for the regularisation of ad hoc teachers and non-teaching staff working in government schools in the hills.

“In the first phase, we want the services of those teachers who are working against existing vacancies to be regularised. Thereafter, we will insist that teachers working against vacancies that are yet to be sanctioned be made permanent. Finally, we want the recognition of teachers who are working in schools that are yet to be upgraded,” said Bhisan Roka, the JSTO spokesperson. (more…)

The Telegraph

Siliguri, March 24: Stakeholders in the tourism sector, particularly those based in Sikkim, are hoping for a better summer this time with the Centre and the Bengal government gearing up to keep NH31A, the lifeline to the Himalayan state, free from political blockades.

Tour operators are relieved that three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been posted along NH31A since the last week of February. “We can now guarantee our clients that there will be no disruptions in their travel plans and the highway will be blockade-free,” said a Sikkim-based tour operator.

Also, with the next round of tripartite talks between the Centre, state and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha slated for the middle of May, tour agents are hopeful that the hill party will not take to the path of bandhs and blockades as long as the process of dialogue is on. (more…)