Central team arrives to take stock of situation in Hills

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 20 April 2020 | Darjeeling: A Central inter-ministerial team arrived at Bagdogra on Monday noon and headed for the Sashastra Seema Bal camp at Ranidanga in Siliguri. 

They are scheduled to visit Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri districts. 

At around noon, the five-member team arrived by a special Air India flight and headed for Ranidanga. 

The team was led by Vineet Joshi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource and Development. 

The team will be reviewing the condition of the three districts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. S Ponnambalam, District Magistrate, Darjeeling when contacted stated that he is not aware of the arrival of such a team and that they have not contacted him. 

"The Centre on Saturday acknowledged the containment and lockdown strategy in Kalimpong district, which had seen a peak in COVID-19 cases with 11 positives, including the death of a 45-year-old. However, since April 2 there has not been a single case in Kalimpong. The government of India declared Kalimpong as a non-hotspot district last week and there was no mention of Darjeeling as there has not been a single case in Darjeeling since the last 16 days. Now they have sent a team alleging that there are serious problems in these districts, " stated Binay Tamang, former chairman, GTA, who is also the President of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. 

"The team should have been sent in consultation with the state government," added Tamang. 

(Courtesy, source and link - Millenium Post- http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/central-team-arrives-to-take-stock-of-situation-in-hills-407609 )