Gurung revives Terai Dooars inclusion in GTA demand

Renewing the demand for inclusion of areas in Dooars and Terai in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has formed a four-member committee, entrusting it with the task of preparing a report on the issue.
Announcing the formation of the committee, GJM President Bimal Gurung said in his Facebook post, GJM was unhappy with the "indifference" of the West Bengal Government and the Centre to their demand for inclusion of 398 mouzas of the plains areas in the GTA.
The GJM has appointed S N Pradhan and Santosh Rai from Dooars and Hari Niroula and Shankar Adhikari from Terai to be a part of this committee, Gurung said.

More members from the GTA and the party would be included in the committee, he said.
"The committee will prepare a report after going through the Shyamal Sen report which we will then place it to the Central government for speedy action," said Gurung.
"In the last tripartite talks between the Union Government and the state government, the GJM clearly expressed its disappointment over the issue of non inclusion of Gorkha dominated areas from Terai and Dooars in the GTA," the Facebook post read.

During negotiations for the formation of the GTA, a state government-appointed committee headed by retired chief justice Shyamal Sen had recommended for the inclusion of only five mouzas on June 8, 2012.

With the GJM rejecting the Shyamal Sen committee recommendations and threatening to launch a fresh agitation, the state government had formed a fact finding committee to identify Gorkha-dominated mouzas which were fit for inclusion in GTA. But, the committee is yet to submit its report.
The Shyamal Sen committee had recommended the inclusion of three mouzas of M M Terai, Purba Kalaibari and Gulmathari under Darjeeling district and two mouzas of Samsing and Chalauni under Jalpaiguri district into the GTA.
According to the Shyamal Sen committee, the five mouzas had been recommended for inclusion taking into account their contiguity, compactness and ground-level conditions. The rest of the 398 mouzas demanded by GJM had failed to meet the criteria, it said.