New Hill Area Development Committee constituted

MP, 22 November 2017, Darjeeling: The Home and Hill Affairs Department through a notification has constituted a "Hill Area Development Committee" for Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. 

The notification states that this supplementary development body will supervise progress work in specific sectors in Darjeeling and Kalimpong respectively. 

The Bengal Governor has given his assent to the "Hill Area Development Committee" constituting Mann Ghising as the Chairperson; Mahendra Chettri as Vice-Chairperson; Ajoy Edwards and Shubhomoy Chatterjee as members.

"The committee shall work in such areas/subjects as the state government may assign to them from time to time" stated the notification with immediate effect. 

The notification is signed by the Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal.

Incidentally in the past, GNLF president Mann Ghising had been nominated in the GTA Board of Administrators. Ghising then had tendered his resignation from the board. 

This time, however, all four have given their consent to join the Committee. "As the GNLF had filed a case against the GTA which is still not disposed off, I did not want to join the Board of Administrators of the GTA. We had challenged the very formation of the GTA," stated Ghising. 

But now, Ghising has agreed to join this committee. "Our people have been suffering since the past 10 years especially during the last 104-day-long bandh in the Hills. We want to bring relief to the economically backward sections of society through this committee." 

Except for Chatterjee, the other three owe allegiance to the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). 

In the past, the government of Bengal had constituted 15 community-based cultural and development boards.