Gorkha halls for plains

TT,  Jalpaiguri: A board formed by the Bengal government for the Gorkhas in the foothills has decided to build community halls in the Terai and the Dooars and extend financial help to Nepali-medium schools in the region.

The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the West Bengal Terai Dooars Siliguri Development and Cultural Board (Gorkha community).

"We have decided to build community halls at four different locations. They can be used by the Gorkhas for different social and cultural functions. We also plan to showca- se our cultural heritage in these halls," said Sandeep Chhetri, the vice-chairman of the board.

The board, he said, will spend around Rs 1.95 lakh on each of the halls, which would come up at Luksan under Nagrakata block, Chamurchi under Dhupguri block (both in Jalpaguri district), Kalchini in Alipurduar district and in Siliguri.

The board has decided to provide Rs 1 lakh each to 11 Nepali-medium schools in the plains. "The amounts can be used to buy computers and improve laboratories. Many of the schools are in remote areas and lack such facilities," said Chhetri. The board's decision is viewed as yet another bid by the Trinamul Congress to improve its base in the Gorkha belts in the Terai and the Dooars.

"People like Sandeep Chhetri were prominent faces of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the Dooars. They had organised a number of movements under Bimal Gurung and demanded the inclusion of the Dooars in the GTA. But the chief minister's strategy worked during the past few years," an observer said.

Asked about the plan for the Lok Sabha election campaign in the Dooars, Chhetri said they could at least talk to people now.

According to him, people had earlier lost their lives when they had struggled under the leadership of Bimal Gurung.

"But Gorkhas in the Dooars and the Terai did not get anything out of the movement. The situation is, however, different now as the state has been consistently working for the development of these areas and the board is working as a supplementary agency. We can talk to people now and assure them that the development process started and they will get benefits out of these initiatives," said Chhetri.