3-tier rural body tops Morcha list - Hill party to demand amendments to GTA Act during talks with Centre and state

Nov. 19: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will demand a three-tier panchayat system in the GTA area during talks with the state tomorrow and tripartite discussions on November 21, party general secretary Roshan Giri said today.

The party would also seek 29 amendments to the GTA Act in the meeting with the state government tomorrow so that the autonomous body runs in a proper way.

Giri said the implementation of the three-tier panchayat system in the GTA area would be one of the important issues to feature in the talks.

“We will also raise other issues like the transfer of reserved forests to the GTA and granting of scheduled tribe status to all Gorkhas barring the scheduled caste at both the bipartite and tripartite meetings,” he said.

Giri, Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma and GTA executive member R.B. Bhujel will represent the Morcha in the tripartite talks. Giri and Sharma will attend the bipartite meeting.

The Darjeeling hills had only two tiers of the rural administration system — gram panchayats and panchayat samitis — when the DGHC was in place. The Centre had amended Article 243M of the Constitution in 1992 to put in place the two-tier system.

However, elections were held only to the panchayats in 2000. Former hill affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya said that in 2000 there was a dispute between Subash Ghisingh and the state government on the jurisdiction and functions of the panchayat samitis in the hills.

“Therefore, it was decided that the polls to the panchayat samitis would be held later after the differences were sorted out. But, ultimately, neither the state nor Ghisingh took the initiative to hold the panchayat samiti polls,” said the former minister.

Since 2005, the elections haven’t been held either to the gram panchayats or the panchayat samitis as Ghisingh feared that the GNLF would not win because of his dwindling popularity. That was why he demanded the Sixth Schedule status for the hills so that he could show up something before the electorate.

The GTA area has 112 gram panchayats.

Experts said if the Centre agrees to implement the three-tier system in the GTA area, it would not happen in a hurry because it would require a constitutional amendment.

With regard to the demand for the transfer of the reserved forests to the GTA, the Morcha believes it should not be difficult for the Centre to do so since there is already a precedence of autonomous bodies in other parts of the country being handed over reserved forests.

“Reserved forests have been transferred to the Bodoland Territorial Council and Karbi Anglong Autonomous District Council in Assam and similar bodies elsewhere in the north eastern states,” said Giri.

The Morcha leader said the party would seek 29 amendments to the GTA Act to ensure complete autonomy of the hill body and its smooth functioning.

Among the important amendments sought by the Morcha are reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the GTA and quota for both the communities in GTA jobs.

“Our stress is on ensuring full autonomy of the GTA and non-interference by the state in its functioning,” said Giri.

The Morcha will also demand the withdrawal of cases registered against party activists by the state government between 2007 and 2011.

A Morcha source said demands for the regularisation of jobs of more than 6,000 ad hoc workers at the GTA and the formulation of rules of procedure and conduct of business of the hill body would also be taken up at the bipartite meeting.