Govt sets up authority for Dooars' Gorkhas

Mohan Sharma

ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY, TT, Aug 15, 2018, Alipurduar: The state government has formed a development authority - the third in north Bengal - for socio-economic development of the Gorkhas in the foothills of the region.

The West Bengal Siliguri Terai Dooars Development Authority (Gorkha Community) with Mohan Sharma, the Trinamul district president of Alipurduar, as its chairman is being seen as yet another move by Trinamul to galvanise the support of the Gorkhas ahead of the parliamentary elections. It will function under the state backward classes welfare department, said sources.

In north Bengal, this is the first development authority set up for a particular community. The Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority, Jaigaon Development Authority and the Changrabandha Development Authority cover specific areas and districts.

The new authority also includes Sandeep Chhetri, a former leader of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the Dooars, as vice-chairman along with nine other members. The state has allotted Rs 5 crore for the authority.

"With the formation of this body, the Gorkha Task Force formed in 2015 will be dissolved. Earlier, the Tribal Task Force has been replaced by the Tribal Development Council in a similar manner," said a source.

Trinamul insiders said chief minister Mamata Banerjee was keen to address the grievances and demands of the Gorkhas and tribals in the Terai and the Dooars spread across the Siliguri, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts. A section of them had voted the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as well as the 2016 Assembly elections.

"After the formation of development boards for different communities in the hills, there had been a steady demand from the Gorkhas and tribals of the Terai and the Dooars to form similar bodies. The demand intensified after the state formed two language academies and a development board for the Rajbangshis," said a Trinamul insider.

Sharma, the Trinamul MLA who heads the authority, outlined his plans. 

"The chief minister has given me the responsibility to work for the Gorkhas, living in Siliguri, Terai and Dooars. We will set up an office in Alipurduar and soon, a meeting of the board would be held to plan our future course of action," Sharma said.