GTA employee assn severs ties with Morcha, Kurseong unit, however, stays on with Tamang camp

Observers of Hill politics, however, are of the opinion that the decision of the UEA could be due to the political equation in the hills changing with the possibility of Mr Gurung's return.

SNS, Darjeeling, 2 November 2020 :  United Employee Association (UEA), a frontal organisation of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Binoy Tamang camp), consisting of ad-hoc employees of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) today withdraw its support to the Tamang faction of the party. The UEA also said that it will remain independent and not have affiliation to any party.

However, the Kurseong unit of the association later said that they were still with the Tamang camp of the Morcha.

The Morcha's Tamang camp leader, Keshav Raj Pokhrel, also said the different units of the (UEA were communicating with the party and that they were not in favour of their organisation remaining independent. 'They have said that it was only a decision of their central committee. They have said they would remain with us," he said. According to Mr Pokhrel, they would form another organisation named the GTA Karmachari Sangthan on 6 November.

Office bearers of the association in Darjeeling, meanwhile, said that their decision to withdraw the support was solely based on the reason that their demand for regularisation had not been met and that it had nothing to do with the recent political developments in the Hills, following the leader of the other faction of the Morcha, Bimal Gurung, showing up in Kolkatta after three years in hiding and swearing allegiance to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress.

"We held a meeting here today, where representatives of our different units front the Hills joined us. It was decided that we would remain independent and not be affiliated to any political party," HEA president Anil Rai said.

The UEA, which was earlier called the Asthayi Karmachari Sangathan, was affiliated to the Gurung camp of the Morcha earlier, but it was reconstituted in 2017 and remained neutral for sometime until it lent support to the Tamang camp of the Morcha. Asked if their decision to withdraw their affiliation from the Morcha camp was due to the recent political developments, Mr Rai said, "The main reason we decided to stay independent was that we got no positive results on our demands, no matter which party we were affiliated to. Our decision has nothing to do with the Morcha leader Bimal Gurung resurfacing."

Observers of Hill politics, however, are of the opinion that the decision of the UEA could be due to the political equation in the hills changing with the possibility of Mr Gurung's return.

The UEA had from the month of August launched various programmes like dharna and pen-down strike to press for their demand for regularization. It had, however, suspended the agitation due to the festivals. "We will again launch future programmes, which we will divulge after a meeting," Mr Rai said.

There are presently around 4,900 such pay band workers with most having got appointment during the time of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which was later replaced by the GTA.