Ghisingh ignored regular job plan - Morcha basks in employment glory that GNLF chief had made little effort to gain

TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 18: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung has become a hero for thousands of contract workers of the DGHC, but if Subash Ghisingh had wanted he could have been on the same pedestal 11 years ago without having to make any effort. The Telegraph has learnt that the state government was willing to regularise the jobs of the contract workers in 1997 and had also approved the DGHC (Recruitment to Group C and Group D and equivalent categories of posts) Rules, 1997. On September 12, 1997, S.S. Rakshit, deputy secretary (hill affairs), had written to then principal secretary of the DGHC Siddharth: “I am directed to refer… and to say that after careful consideration government approval of (sic) the recruitment rules for Group C and Group D equivalent posts under Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council as mentioned in the enclosed statement.” The enclosed statement (No 237-HA/O/E-8/95) said the DGHC Rules 1997 “shall come into force on such date as the council may decide”. Ghisingh, the GNLF chief who was then the council chairman, never decided on the date. According to the rules, the principal secretary of the council was made the appointing authority and while the Group C category could be filled up either through direct recruitment or promotion, recruitment at the Group D level had to be direct. Candidates had to be selected by a committee appointed by the chairman of the council. The panel of selected candidates, however, was to be approved by the chairman. This essentially means that Ghisingh had been given total freedom on recruitment. Although the list of candidates was to be obtained from the local employment exchange, enough flexibility had been given to the council to regularise the services of those who were already working on contract. “The candidates who are working on contract/daily wages in the council shall be considered as department candidates”, the rules said. Political observers believe that Ghisingh could still have been a force to reckon with if he had the backing of the 6000-odd contract workers. “The DGHC workers could not speak against Ghisingh as he would have immediately discontinued their services. However, when the winds of cha-nge started to blow, they did not hesitate to shift loyalties.” Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said Ghisingh’s brand of politics was self-centred. “It did not matter whether it was anti-people or anti-worker,” said Giri. The DGHC Rules of 1997 will probably not be followed any more as the Morcha wants regularisation of the jobs of those on contract, not fresh recruitment. The Morcha also has to ensure that the jobs of 2,815 workers who were appointed by Ghisingh at random are regularised. The DGHC has 3,472 sanctioned posts while the total number of workers in the council stands at 6,287. Tea workers, ABAVP clash over Puja bonus SNS, JALPAIGURI, 18 SEPT: Intuc affiliated National Union of Plantation Workers supporters clashed with Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad activists in a Nagrakata based tea plantation over Puja bonus issue. The clash occurred at about 9:30 a.m. when NUPW supporters were holding a gte meeting at the plantation demanding 13.25 per cent puja bonus for the plantation workers. According to the NUPW Nagrakata block committee secretary Mr Amarnath Jha, the plantation management had on 16 September notified that the workers would be provided 9.5 per cent puja bonus this year. “The local ABAVP leadership held a meeting the with the plantation management and fixed the rate at 11 per cent, which the NUPW leadership and the workers rejected. The plantation is in the ‘D’ group and all ‘D’ group plantations are supposed to pay bonus at 13.25 per cent to its workers as was fixed in the bonus negotiations in Kolkata this year. The rates offered by the plantation management or that settled by the AVABP are both lower than that fixed in the bonus negotiations and therefore unacceptable to the NUPW or the workers,” Mr Jha said. According to him, the AVABP activists manhandled the NUPW supporters today and pelted stones at them in which an NUPW supporter Mr Suknath Oraon was injured and was admitted in the Sulkapara block primary hospital for treatment. The police intervened to bring the situation under control and according to the plantation manager Mr SN Sen, the plantation's managing director has negotiated with the NUPW leadership and agreed to pay 13.25 per cent bonus. The bonus distribution is expected to begin tomorrow. Admitting today's clash, the ABAVP Terai-Dooars Coordination Committee president Mr John Barla said that they had first demanded 15 per cent bonus for the workers of the plantation. “It is a distressed tea plantation and so, we agreed on 11 per cent bonus. But the NUPW leadership today ignored the manager and negotiated directly with the planter which we strongly condemn,” added Mr Barla. Government embraces alternative medicine SNS, RAIGANJ, 18 SEPT: The state government has decided to install indoor facilities of both homeopathic and ayurvedic treatments in all the district and sub-divisional hospitals of the state. "With an objective to bring more residents of the state under the government's health care facilities, the state government has initiated this move," said the minister of state in charge of the state health department Mr Anwarul Hoque. According to Mr Hoque it was learnt that a considerable section of the population of the state believe in homeopathic and ayurvedic treatments. They are not interested in adopting conventional allopathic treatments. On the other hand the infrastructure of both homeopathic and ayurvedic treatments in different district hospitals is not satisfactory according to the demand. As a part of the programme a move has been initiated to set up 10 bedded indoor facilities for homeopathic and ayurvedic patients under the roof of all district hospitals of the state where the patients will be able to stay till their recovery. On the other hand a spacious ayurvedic clinic will be opened in the premises of sub-divisional hospitals of the state. A move has been initiated from the end of the state government to appoint a good number of qualified homeopathic doctors and ayurvedic practitioners. Such 10 bedded indoor treatment arrangements will start functioning in Raiganj district hospital in the first half of 2010, said Mr Hoque. Child labour menace GANGTOK, 18 SEPT: The All Sikkim Educated Self Employed and Unemployed Association, an apolitical body, has expressed serious concerns on the prevalence of child labour in the state despite its ban three years ago. “The law has not been properly implemented in the state,” said the ASESE & UA working president, Mr Nawin Kiran Pradhan. SNS