Mamata meet next to CBSE exam centre - Trinamul says indoor event will start after test, Morcha demands cancellation of permit

The main dais (left) under construction at Monteviot Ground in Kurseong and
a pandal (right) being erected for Trinamul supporters. The blue building
behind the stage is Godwin Modern School. Picture by Suman Tamang

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, March 14: Mamata Banerj

ee is scheduled to address a public meeting tomorrow at Monteviot Ground in Kurseong, less than 100m away from a school where students would be taking their Class X board exams.

Although the meeting near Godwin Modern School is being described as an "indoor" event, till late this afternoon, the space between the main dais and the sitting area for Trinamul supporters was not covered.

A pandal has been erected on the remaining space with a cloth covering on top, which is unlikely to block any noise.

According to the environment department rules, there is a blanket ban on outdoor use of loudspeakers starting from three days before the commencement of any board examination till its end.

Godwin Modern School is an exam centre where 26 CBSE students from different schools outside Kurseong would write their Class X English Communicative paper from 10.30am to 1.30pm tomorrow.

Apart from test, the school that has 110 students studying from Pre-nursery to Class XII holds regular classes from 8am till 2.30pm.

Trinamul leaders said the public meeting was scheduled to start after 1.30pm. "It is an indoor meeting and it will start after 1.30pm and end around 4.30pm tomorrow," said Rajen Mukhia, president, Trinamul (Hills). He added that they had sought permission for the meeting as an indoor event.

Bipul Kumar Biswas, the subdivisional officer of Kurseong, who issued the permit for the event as the assistant returning officer, refused to comment today.

The authorities of Godwin Modern School refused to be drawn into any controversy.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has objected to the meeting saying the examinees in the school building will be sitting closer to Mamata than her supporters who would come to listen to her.

"Compare the distance between the dais and the school and between the dais and the last man standing inside their so-called pandal. We are surprised. How was permission granted to organise the meeting when the board exams are being held? We have lodged a complaint with the state's chief electoral officer (complaint number 126030240002619)," said Yogendra Rai, president, Morcha town committee (Kurseong) who is also an elected GTA Sabha member.

The complaint naming Mukhia was lodged today.

"Imagine the amount of noise that would be generated even before 1.30pm. There are a number of residential buildings in the area and apart from CBSE, ICSE and ISC examinations are also on. Other schools near the venue are Dawn Boarding and Little Flower schools. But the closest is Godwin Modern School," Rai said. "We have requested the assistant returning officer to cancel the permit. If this is the situation under which TMC is being allowed to hold a public meeting then all other political parties should be given permission for the same."

Asked about the complaint, Anurag Srivastava, the district returning officer and Darjeeling district magistrate, said: "I have learnt from the SDO, Kurseong, who had issued the permission that the meeting is in a covered pandal, which is treated as an indoor place. Restriction by the pollution control board on mike use is not applicable to indoor places. The condition of granting permission is that sound should not emanate from the pandal and students should not be disturbed."