CM has agreed to most hill demands: Tamang

SNS, 4 December 2017, Darjeeling: The chairman of the Board of Administrators for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, Binay Tamang, today claimed that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has agreed to most of the demands, including implementation of the Minimum Wages Act in the tea gardens and formation of three sub-divisions for the new district of Kalimpong.

"Today, I, along with GTA board vice-chairman Anit Thapa, met chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabbana and spoke on the various problems plaguing the Hills. We demanded that the issues raised in the bipartite meeting by the state on 1 November be fulfilled as soon as possible. The CM has agreed to meet the demands made by the GTA in the recent bipartite meeting," Mr Tamang said in a press release issued here today.

According to him, the state government would soon start its administrative and legal formalities for the parchapatta (land documents) of the people living in the tea gardens, cinchona plantation and 153 forest villages. He added that the state government will also start the process of implementing the minimum wages in the tea gardens and giving workers there the position of skilled labours.

He further claimed that the state government would start the ''process of fulfilling" their demand for three subdivisions in Kalimpong district, namely Gorubathan, Algarah-Pedong and Kalimpong Sadar, along with converting Bijanbari into a new sub-division too.

"The state government will also start the process of transfer of the various departments that were supposed to he handed over to the GTA. The WBCS examinations that were stopped in the hills in 1992 would again be conducted there and candidates can write the exams in the Nepali language. The police recruitment will also resume at Daali in Darjeeling," Mr Tamang said. The release added that Mr Tamang's meeting with Education minister Partha Chaterjee yesterday started to bear fruit from today itself. "After we placed the demand for appointments in primary, secondary and higher secondary schools, the process of appointment started from today itself," it said.