Gurung to meet Chamling....Move to drum up support for ST status

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT,  Darjeeling, Aug. 19: Bimal Gurung will hold a meeting with Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling in Gangtok on August 23 to drum up support for the demand of granting tribal status to 10 Gorkha communities.

Chamling is the only Gorkha chief minister in the country and Gurung believes his support will go a long way in fulfilling the demand.

The 10 Gorkha communities — Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami and Yakhha ( Dewan) — comprise around 55 percent of the hill population.

Gurung has also demanded to include the Dhimals from the plains in the ST list.

Today, speaking on the sidelines of a programme at Patlabas during which, 245 Trinamul supporters from Ranbull- Balasun area joined the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Gurung said: " I will be meeting the chief minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling on August 23. The issue is regarding the tribal status for the 10 Gorkha communities. After the meeting, I will immediately leave for Delhi from Gangtok." This means, Gurung will not meet Mamata Banerjee who is expected to be in Darjeeling on August 24 for three days.

Although the relationship between Chamling and Gurung has seen several ups and downs, ruffled feathers between the leaders were smoothened with Gurung felicitating Chamling in Darjeeling in April this year. This is the first time that Gurung will meet Chamling on the ST status issue.

On August 10, Gurung had met Jual Oram, the Union tribal affairs minister, in Delhi and had said the minister had decided to call a meeting in the first week of September to discuss the issue. Gurung had said the minister would chair the meeting and officers of the registrar general of India and representatives of several communities would attend the meeting in Delhi.

Gurung and Darjeeling BJP MP, S. S. Ahluwalia are also expected to attend it.

The Bengal government had sent its recommendation, to grant tribal status to the 10 communities, to the tribal affairs department and it had been forwarded to the registrargeneral's office in early 2014.

An RTI query by a hill resident in June 2014 had, however, revealed that the ministry had withdrawn the proposal.

The reason for withdrawal had not been stated.

Before granting ST status to a community, the Cultural Research Institute ( of a state) conducts a study. The report is sent to the state backward classes welfare department. The state sends a recommendation to the Union tribal affairs ministry, which forwards it to the registrar- general's office under the home ministry. The proposal is sent back to the tribal affairs ministry following which, the matter is placed before the cabinet for approval.

Giri meets Partha Roshan Giri, executive GTA Sabha member in charge of education department, met state education minister Partha Chatterjee in Calcutta today.

" The GTA has demanded the approval of 658 new vacancies of primary teachers. We have also demanded a consolidated amount to be paid to 515 voluntary teachers in high and higher secondary schools in the GTA area. The minister has given us a positive assurance," said Giri.