Gurung calms hill SC, ST quota nerves

Bimal Gurung

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, July 17:  The Darjeeling District Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Joint Action Committee today said that Bimal Gurung had assured its members that the GTA would grant jobs to SCs and STs as proposed in a recent resolution.

Hem Baraily, the general secretary of the SC and ST Joint Action Committee, said Gurung had also assured them that the GTA Act would be amended soon so that seats would be reserved for SC and ST candidates in the next GTA elections.

“Morcha president Bimal Gurung called us for a meeting in Darjeeling yesterday where he assured us that the GTA would follow the 100-point roster system in all recruitments that will be made by the GTA in the coming days. He also assured us that he would ensure that the GTA Act is amended in the upcoming monsoon session so that seats are reserved for the SC and ST candidates in the next GTA election,” Baraily said.

According to the 100-point roster system, 22 per cent of jobs have to be reserved for the SC community and 6 per cent for STs. The Other Backward Classes (OBCs) enjoy 27 per cent quota.

The election seats are reserved according to the community’s population in constituencies.

The SC community was up in arms against the Morcha after it came to light that the GTA had not followed the 100-point roster system while appointing 575 teachers in primary schools.

Recently, the SC community started a poster campaign demanding implementation of the 100-point roster system and reservation for SC and ST candidates in the next GTA polls scheduled in 2017.

On Saturday, the GTA passed a resolution on the two issues.

But the next day, the SC and ST Joint Action Committee adopted a resolution to write to Gurung seeking his support for academician Mahendra P. Lama for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha elections.

Lama, a resident of Darjeeling who is now based in Delhi, is from the ST community.

The SC and ST community makes up 43 per cent of the hill population and their request, could have put the Morcha under pressure.

But today, Baraily said the SC and ST Joint Action Committee would not write to Gurung requesting him to support Lama.

“Since our two main demands are being fulfilled, we have decided to keep in abeyance our decision to write to Gurung seeking support for Lama,” Baraily said.

Asked if Lama’s issue cropped up during their interaction with Gurung in Darjeeling yesterday, Baraily replied in negative.

“Neither Gurung nor our members broached the issue,” he said.