Yolmos seek board for welfare

TT, Siliguri: Members of the Yolmo community residing in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts and the Dooars have demanded a separate development board for their welfare.

On Sunday, a meeting of the All Bengal Yolmowa Board, an organisation representing the community, was held at Dagapur, on the outskirts of Siliguri. It is an organisation of the community.

In north Bengal, there are around 40,000 members of the community. Most of them are economically weak and are either into farming or work as a daily-wage earner, said representatives of the organisation.

"People of our community have been residing in the region since 1830 and are Buddhists. We have separate language, attire and rituals. If the state can form separate boards for some communities which have lesser population than us, we feel we, too, deserve a development board," said Kunga Yolmo, the president of the organisation.

So far, the state has already formed 15 development boards in the hills and funds have been allocated to them.