Lepcha honour for Mamata

Siliguri, June 13: The Lepchas in north Bengal will bestow the title of Kingtsoom Dartim or Bhagya Vidhata (bestower of good fortune) on chief minister Mamata Banerjee for announcing a board for the development of the community. Members of the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association (ILTA) said the honour would be conferred on her at a ceremony in Siliguri on September 2. The programme is to commemorate the second anniversary of Mamata’s announcement to form the board on the same day in 2011. “We have been neglected and subjugated for the past 400 years in our homeland. Banerjee is the first chief minister to announce the formation of the development board on September 2, (2011) barely three months after she assumed the post. We want to express our gratefulness to her by conferring the title of Kingtsoom Dartim, which means Bhaghya Vidhata on her,” said L.S. Tamsang, president of ILTA. In February this year, an order was issued by the government to establish the Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Board. Mayel Lyang means Land of Lepchas. Lepchas are regarded as the original inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills and comprise 20 per cent of the population there. The resolution mentions that the board will have 31 nominated members and it would function under the state backward classes’ welfare department. But since then, no development has taken place. Asked about the delay, Tamang said: “We are sure that the order would be implemented. It might take some time but we are confident that it will be formed by the state.” The ILTA plans to gather one lakh people from the community from different parts of the country for the event likely to be held at Baghajatin Park.