Govt signals more powers for GTA

 VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 22 Dec 2018, Darjeeling: The home and hill affairs department has appointed the principal secretary of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration as the "pension sanctioning authority" for nine government-aided colleges in the hills.

The move is expected to clear the air of uncertainty hanging over the non-disbursement of pension to nonteaching staffs of these colleges who had retired in the last two years.

The development that has taken place in the last one year Lal Kothi, the GTA headquarters in Darjeeling also raises questions on the administrative competence of the earlier GTA board headed by Bimal Gurung, which was constantly at loggerheads with the state government during their five year tenure despite having agreed to run the GTA, observers said.

According to GTA sources, the nine hill colleges were transferred to GTA on October 10, 2012.

"The allocation of fund for pay and allowances for establishment was being sanc- tioned by the home and hill affairs but the pension sanctioning authority was the director of public instruction (DPI), which is under the higher education department," said a source.

With the colleges having been transferred to GTA, the DPI was finding it difficult to act as the pension sanctioning authority.

College teachers had not yet been affected as the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62 years two years back. "College teachers who would retire from next year, too, would face problems had this issue not been solved," the source added.

The home and hill affairs department in consultation with the higher education department and the finance department issued an order on December 10 this year.

The order states: "I am now directed to say that the Governor is pleased to declare that the principal secretary, GTA, shall function as the pension sanctioning authority……" After Binay Tamang took charge of GTA, approval letters were handed over to 429 secondary teachers which were pending since 2010. The West Bengal School Service Commission also validated the name of 137 ad-hoc teachers paving the way for their job regularisation.

The GTA was also recently vested with appointment powers to fill up vacant posts at ITI, Tung, near Kurseong. The GTA has also started work on construction of 20 primary school and 36 upper primary school buildings.