K'pong forest village move questioned- who had "suppressed" the document till now

SNS, DARJEELING. 6 MAY 2021 : As the Himalayan Forest Villagers Organisation (HFVO) thanked the West Bengal government for finally publishing a Gazette notification, converting (34 forest villages in Kalimpong district into revenue villages, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista questioned the intention of the state and wondered why the document was not made public until now, as, according to him, it was actually issued in September last year.

"For places like Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, such a gazzette notification was out in the year 2014 itself for the forest villages there and the process of handing them parja-patta is also on. At that time, such a thing did not happen for Kalimpong and Darjeeling," HFVO general secretary Lila Gurung told a press conference.

The HFVO had bee demanding implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

"On 18 September last year, the state government issued a Gazzette notification on this, but could it not be published due to the coronavirus pandemic. Then the model code of conduct for the elections came in place, due to which it did not take place. Now that it has been published, (34 forest villages out of the 70, will be converted into revenue villages. The people living in these areas will benefit a lot and they will come under the Land and Land Reforms department," said Mr Gurung who added that they will continue to demand the same for forest villages under Darjeeling district too.

While the HFVO took credit for the gazzette notification, maintaining that the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung faction) and different organizations were behind it, Mr Bista claimed that he had also played a role, along with the HFVO, in making this happen.

"In the mid months of 2020, the Kalimpong District Magistrate, under instructions from the state government, had issued an illegal notice to the villagers in Melli and other areas of Kalimpong district, stating that their claims to be forest dwellers had been rejected, since they did not have any documentary proof," said Mr Bista. The MP said the state government had finally extended the Forest Rights Act to Kalimpong, following his move to take up the matter with the Centre. "The state had done it in September last year itself. However, they had kept this fact hidden from the general public, and though the FM-2005 was finally extended to Kalimpong district in September 2020, not a single forest dweller has been granted Parja Patta rights till date," Mr Bista said, adding that most of the people living in Forest Villages in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri too have been denied what is rightfully theirs and "there was no clarity on if the FM has been extended to the Darjeeling District or not."

Mr Bista also raised questions as to why the document of the extension of the FRA to Kalimpong district was being done only after the Assembly elections. He also asked as to who had "suppressed" the document till now and "if it was the state or those running the GTA behind it."

On the other hand, the Darjeeling branch general secretary of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, Sandeep Limbu, appealed to the state government that similar action should be taken for forest villagers living in Darjeeling, Mirik and Kurseong, along with parja-patta to people living in DI Fund areas, Cinchona plantations and tea gardens.