CM sets 9 Jan date for Hill meet in SIliguri

SNS, 2 January 2018: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will hold an all-party meeting to discuss the present situation in the Hills at Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat of north Bengal, in Siliguri, on t he second day of her proposed trip of north Bengal beginning 8 January.

Miss Banerjee is scheduled to embark on a three-day tour of north Bengal, and inaugurate the Uttarbanga Utsav at the Kanchanjungha Stadium in Siliguri at 3.30 pm on 8 January. The chief minister wilI spend the night at Uttarkanya and go to Alipurduar district on a helicopter, where she is scheduled to inaugurate the district administrative building 'Dooarskanya.' Miss Banerjee will also distribute some government schemes to the beneficiaries there, she is scheduled to return to Kolkata on 10 January.

It will be the fifth round of all-party meeting, where the CM will discuss ongoing development projects in the Hills, said a senior administrative official here today.

 After she returns from Alipurduar, she will chair the all-party meeting to maintain peace and harmony in the hills at 4 pm at Uttarkanya on 9 January. Political parties will be invited to attend the meeting. In the meeting, she will also review the status of the ongoing projects as the state government has allotted funds to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to undertake development projects the official said.

Political experts said Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung and his close aides have already been cornered with the rise of Binoy Tamang, who has been made the chairman of the board of administrators of the GM by the state government. They said that the meeting is significant in such a scenario.

'The state government has alienated Bimal Gurung. It has accepted some demands of political parties.

It has given funds for development projects in the GTA area. Gorkha National Liberation Front president Mann Ghisingh has been appointed as the chairman of the Hill Area Development Committee. It is likely that the chief minister will focus on devel¬opment issues of the Hills,' said an expert.

The first and third such meetings were held at Nabanna, the second was held at Uttarkanya, while the fourth round of the meeting was held at Pintail Village in Siliguri,

Administrative sources said an area has been readied near Uttarkanya for the helicopter to take off and land.