Race for dev boards on with Sherpas joining bandwagon!

EOI, Darjeeling, 18 January 2014: The clamour for separate development boards by various communities of the Darjeeling hills is gaining in momentum after chief minister Mamata Banerjee set up the Lepcha Development Board last year.

The Sherpa community today took out a rally in Darjeeling town demanding the formation of a separate development board on the lines of the LDB.

“The Sherpas have a distinct language, culture, attire and food habits, and these set us apart from other communities. We are a minority community and need to be safeguarded and given facilities for our community to develop further,” said Nima Wangdi Sherpa, chief coordinator of the All Sherpa Buddhist Development Council Action Committee (ASBDCAC), which is spearheading the demand.

Hundreds of Sherpa community members participated in the rally carrying placards with the demand and raised slogans.

The chief minister virtually opened up a Pandora’s Box when she formed the LDB in a huff after a tiff with the ruling Gorkha Janmukti Morcha last year. Banerjee’s decision had prompted the GJM to accuse her of dividing the people of the region to gain a foothold in the hills.

In fact, the decision to set up the LDB was among the factors that had triggered off the recent agitation for statehood here. The soured relation between the state government and the GJM was restored after a 44-day agitation by the latter, but the bonhomie could not stem the voices demanding development boards by the various communities here.

After the Lepchas, the Bhutia, Mangar, Rai and other communities have started demanding their respective development boards.

Meanwhile, the ASBDCAC cited factors such as the community’s population and the urgent need for its overall development.

“As a community, our strength is more than 1.40 lakh members in Bengal. Further, we are an underdeveloped people and have little or no representation. Therefore, our demand for a separate development board is legitimate and within our fundamental rights ,” said the Sherpa community’s chief coordinator.

However, he skirted questions on whether the proposed Sherpa Development Board should be under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration or the state government.

When the chief minister had announced the LDB, the GJM had opposed its formation outside the purview of the GTA. The Morcha wanted the LDB to be formed within the GTA citing the board’s better functioning. In a bid to frustrate the state government’s plans, the GJM had demanded similar development boards for other communities, but all under the jurisdiction of the GTA.

The ASBDCAC chief coordinator said a Sherpa delegation would meet Banerjee when she visits the hills on January 20.

 “We will try to meet her when she comes here next week and submit a memorandum comprising our demand. We are hopeful of getting a positive response,” said Sherpa.

It may be mentioned here that in the 2011 GTA agreement, the GJM has demanded tribal status for the entire Gorkha community barring the schedule caste community.