GJM scores a point: state okays regularisation of 3,472 workers IE Kolkata, sept 23: The state government has agreed in principle to regularise 3,472 casual workers of the total of 6,300 at the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. This was declared by state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen after meeting a seven-member delegation of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha today. The employees had been demanding their regularisation for a long time and the GJM, spearheading the movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland, had taken up their cause. There are 3,472 vacancies at DGHC and the state government has agreed to absorb casual workers in these posts. “We have to set up some guidelines for creating the remaining posts,” Sen said. Interestingly, this is the first time the GJM has come to talk to state government officials on some issue other than the Gorkhaland demand. The Morcha leaders thanked the state government for the gesture. “We have been demanding regularisation of the casual workers and the state government has agreed to that in principle. Now the details are being worked out,” GJM spokesperson Roshan Giri said, adding this did not mean any dilution of their demand for a separate Gorkhaland. Govt to start filling up DGHC vacancies - ‘Scientific’ study to determine number of extra posts

A procession taken out by Morcha supporters in Darjeeling on Tuesday, demanding permanent job status for DGHC casual employees. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Sept. 22: The state government has decided to start filling up the 3,000-odd vacant posts in the DGHC, simultaneously conducting a “scientific review’’ to find out how many additional posts can be created to regularise the contract staff working there. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership represented by Roshan Giri and Amar Lama and Janmukti Asthai Karmachari Sangatan led by Machendra Subba today met state home secretary Ardhendu Sen in Calcutta and pressed for regularisation of the nearly 6,300 casual workers of the hill council. After the meeting in Writers’ Buildings, the home secretary said: “Today, we told the Morcha leaders that the government had decided in principle to fill up sanctioned vacant posts in the hill council that could be around 3,000. There are nearly 6300 contract staff in the DGHC. In order to find out whether all of them can be regularised, we will conduct a scientific review as it is necessary to know how much of work, and of what nature, is pending there. Before the review, we can’t say how many additional posts can be created for contract workers after filling up the vacancies in the sanctioned posts.” The contract workers on instructions of the Morcha had started an indefinite hunger strike in the hills from September 14, demanding permanent job status. Three days later, the government announced its decision to absorb at least 3,472 of the 6,300 workers, prompting the protesters to end their fast. Sen said he had assured the Morcha leadership that the process of filling up the vacant sanctioned posts would be expedited but no specific time frame had been decided on for doing this. “There’s no specific time limit but we have told the Morcha that sanctioned vacancies will be filled up as fast as possible. We will also expedite the review for creation of additional posts,’’ he said. Asked whether the government would be setting a precedent by regularising contract workers, Sen said: “This has been happening in several departments, government undertakings and municipalities.” However, Giri today insisted that the government had made a commitment to absorb all the casual staff. “We are not backtracking from our demand that all the contract staff be regularised. In fact, the government has given us the assurance that every contract worker will be regularised and has told the Darjeeling district magistrate the same thing. The government is preparing certain guidelines for the absorption (of the contract staff),” Giri said. Amar Lama echoed Giri while speaking to The Telegraph: “The government has agreed to create additional posts to regularise the services of all contract workers by November 15. Many departments like parks and gardens have been made part of the DGHC and creation of additional posts is not a problem. “The state government had asked for 10 days’ time to issue new guidelines but on our insistence agreed to prepare it by tomorrow. Regularisation will start after the pujas.” Technically, the government is bound to issue fresh guidelines as there is no provision in the DGHC rules that allow regularisation of contract workers. “We found out that two assistant engineers of the DGHC had been regularised in 2005 through a government order. We quoted the order and the government could say little,” said Lama. Puja flamboyance kicks off in Darjeeling SNS, SILIGURI, 22 SEPT: With the rain-clouds having dispersed and a slight nip in the air, a harbinger of the approaching winter, being felt, the people of the Darjeeling Hills are gearing up to celebrate the festive season with customary gaiety and devotion. There would be scores of big-budget community pujas apart from innumerable household ones in the three sub-divisions in the hills. The non-mandatory dress code, to be willingly complied with by the common people, is likely to invest the festive fun with a peculiar charm. According to the GJMM media secretary, Dr Harka Bahadur Chettri, the Puja exuberance has already gripped the fun-loving and simple people of the Hills. “A special feature of the Puja in the hills is that it is more a cultural congregation than a stereotyped religiosity with streaks of discriminatory orthodoxy and its share of paraphernalia. Apart from the Hindus, all other religious communities participate in the festivities with an equal sense of belonging coupled with spontaneity,” he said. Taking a dig at Mr Subash Ghising for having issued a diktat against worship of idol in a bid to display the tribal character of the people, the GJMM leader said that this illogical gimmick along with other factors had brought about the cataclysmic sequence of events finally leading to his ouster from the Hills. Bus strike threat for pay TT, Siliguri, Sept. 22: An Intuc-affiliated union at North Bengal State Transport Corporation today threatened to launch an indefinite strike if the state government failed to disburse the salaries for September by Thursday. “As Durga Puja is at the end of the month, the management had decided to pay salaries for September to all its 7,000-odd workers in advance,” said Satyananda Dutta, the general secretary of the North Bengal State Transport Workers’ Union. “But none of them has received the salary. If the management does not pay the salaries by September 24, we will stay away from duty and no buses will be plying.” According to Dutta, there are 4,800 permanent and 2,500 casual workers at the corporation. “We admit that there would be a rush of passengers during the pujas. But if the workers don’t get salaries by Thursday, there will be no other option but to stop running buses,” he told journalists at the union’s office here. The union, sources at the corporation said, has around 2,000 members. “If they go on strike, there will be disruption in our services and passengers will face inconveniences,” said an official. Dutta said employees belonging to other trade unions would not be prevented from attending duties. “Those owing allegiance to the Citu-affiliated union can join work. We will not deter them from carrying out their tasks.” Dutta said 65 buses were operated from Siliguri depot to different destinations a day. They include the Calcutta-Siliguri Rocket services also. “If our members resort to the strike from Thursday, bus services will be affected in all four divisions of the corporation — Siliguri, Berhampore, Raiganj and Cooch Behar.” Senior officials at the corporation are hopeful that the strike can be averted. “We are aware of the workers’ resentment and have already taken steps. The salaries are expected to be disbursed by Thursday,” P.N. Bhutia, the managing director of the corporation, said over the phone from Delhi. Cong gets firm in Siliguri, Trinamool skips meet ENS Sep 22, 2009: The tug-of-war between allies Congress and Trinamool for the office of Mayor in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation intensified today with Mamata Banerjee’s party deciding to skip a conciliatory meeting called by the Congress to break the stalemate.

The two allies together recently wrested the civic body from the CPM, which ruled it for over 30 years. The meeting called by the Congress for the amicable settlement of the issue was cancelled after Trinamool leaders failed to turn up.

The two Opposition parties have jointly captured 29 of the 47 municipal wards in the Corporation. The state Congress had on Saturday urged Banerjee to respect its claim to the Mayor’s post as the party had bagged the maximum number of seats (15) in the recent civic polls. While the Trinamool chief is still to respond, her party leaders hinted she would not accept the demand.Congress MP from Raiganj Deepa Dasmunsi, who played a key role in shaping the alliance between the two Opposition parties in Siliguri, today accused Trinamool MLA Partha Chatterjee of skipping the meeting to resolve the issue. “We were supposed to meet today to settle the issue. We were told that Chatterjee will attend the meeting. But he did not turn up,” she said.

Chatterjee, however, claimed he “had no information about any meeting with the Congress leadership today on the Siliguri mayor’s issue”.

Dasmunsi said she would take up the issue with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “I spoke to Union Finance Minister and state Congress president Pranab Mukherjee, who advised us to settle the issue through talks with the Trinamool. But the Trinamool chief has not yet responded to our plea. We might have to consult our party chief Sonia Gandhi in the matter.” The Congress MP claimed the organisational network of her party was stronger than the Trinamool’s in North Bengal. She also claimed the Congress had fared better than the Trinamool in the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad elections. “But we could not form the Mahakuma Parishad because of the poor show of the Trinamool Congress,” Dasmunsi said.