Morcha wants posts filled up by Nov. 15

TT, Siliguri, Sept. 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has asked the state government to fill up 3,000-odd vacant posts in the hills by the middle of November. “The present staff strength at the DGHC is 6,287 and the state government has agreed to regularise more than half of it. However, several posts are still lying vacant in departments like health, hospitality, education, irrigation and engineering. We want the government to recruit the remaining contract workers (after making 3,472 workers permanent) in the council in these posts,” Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri told journalists at Pintail Village after returning from Calcutta today. Giri, who had headed a seven-member delegation, met home secretary Ardhendu Sen in Writers’ Buildings on Tuesday to discuss the regularisation of the DGHC’s contract workers. After the meeting, the government announced to fill up the sanctioned posts. “We met the home secretary and placed our demand. As no new post has been created since the DGHC’s inception in 1988, no recruitment drive was carried out in the hills,” Giri said. “What Subash Ghisingh could not achieve in 21 years, we did that in just two years.” According to him, the district administration will assimilate information on vacant posts from different departments and prepare a list where the remaining casual workers can be absorbed. “The list will be sent to the government by November 15.” On dissolution of the DGHC, the Morcha leader said: “Gorkhaland is our ultimate goal and we have told the state and the Centre that it is the only alternative of the council. Once the separate state is formed, the workers will automatically be absorbed in departments concerned.” GJMM take up workers plight SNS, SILIGURI, 24 SEPT: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha today demanded regularisation of all casual workers of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council by 15 November. “The state government has agreed to regularise 3472 casual workers, but the Morcha demands inclusion of all casual workers in the process,” the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri said here today after returning from Kolkata. The GJMM leadership also demanded that if needed, new posts should be created to accommodate casual workers. “Many posts are vacant in several departments, including irrigation, electricity, and the government should create new posts to accommodate the casual workers,” said Mr Machhindra Subba, president of the GJMM-backed Jan Mukti Asthayi Karmachari Sangathan. Toy train dashes tour spirit - DHR fails London agency for 8th time A steam engine at the loco shed in Darjeeling. (Suman Tamang) Vivek Chhetri TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 24: A London-based tour agency which conducts exclusive long distance rail safaris across Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Canada and Africa has allegedly made eight attempts to reach Darjeeling by toy train, but in vain. The last attempt was made yesterday with former cricketer and commentator Farokh Engineer as one of the passengers on board the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which has a Unesco heritage status. “We boarded the train at Sukna but after travelling for some distance it had to be pushed by a diesel engine from the rear. At times, the steam engine would accelerate and when the diesel engine pushed the bogies, the passenger would be thrown forward,” said Tim Littler, president, GW Travel Limited. The engine were changed in Tindharia but 5km away, in Gayabari, it was found that the century-old machine had run out of water. “It was then we decided that we would take a bus to Darjeeling,” said Littler. What amazed Littler was that “so many people are involved with the DHR” but the services are just not up to the mark. “Even yesterday we had a host of officials following us but when the engines broke none could really be of much help. In England, I think a group of 30 workers would be enough to ensure that the services are good,” said Littler. Tim Littler (Suman Tamang) The agency which every year starts its India safari with the Deccan Odyssey from Mumbai usually visits Udaipur, Jaipur, Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and Varanasi before reaching New Jalpaiguri station after eight days of actual rail journey. The total journey is of a two-week duration. “This is the eighth charter train (with the DHR) and I have a 100 per cent record of not completing the journey,” said Littler. GW Travel has been visiting Darjeeling since 2005, but have never been able to complete their toy train journey. Yesterday’s group included visitors from the US, New Zealand, Australia, Israel and the Netherlands and each of them had paid $11,000 for the entire rail journey in India. Fed up with the inconsistencies in the DHR service, Littler is contemplating adding only the joyride from Darjeeling to Ghoom in the hill itinerary. Even that is unlikely to solve his problem. Early this morning, the DHR had to cancel its joyride following disputes between the workers and contractor in-charge of loading coal to the train. Subrata Nath, the director of the DHR, however, had a different story. “The team had decided to take the bus because they had boarded the train three hours late (at 12.30pm instead of the scheduled 8.30am) and it was getting dark,” said Nath. He appealed to people not to hold the DHR to ransom. “A problem cropped up between the labourers and the contractor and we could do little. People should not hold the DHR at ransom during the tourist season.” Pujas not so sweet this year SNS, SILIGURI, 24 SEPT: Finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee must be unhappy this Puja! A hobbling Indian economy under his stewardship has now taken a toll on jilipi the unparallel festive platter of the Bengalis all across the state. Ironically, this happens under a finance minister who is not only a Bengali and hails from Bengal. As an immediate consequence of the unabated price hike of sugar and other related ingredients, jilipi this Puja will cost at least ten rupees more than the normal price. A kilogram of jilipi that was selling at Rs 50 only a fortnight back has now shot up to Rs 60 ~ a straight ten rupees hike. The new price came into effect around 15 September ~ almost all across the state. Going by previous records, the price of jilipi will never climb-down ever again. Rs 60 is the lowest available price and in places like Kolkata and Siliguri the hike is even more, depending upon the reputation of the individual sweet-vendors. “The exorbitant price rise of sugar and besan has compelled us to go for the straight ten rupees hike. This is a little unusual in the sense that the price ofjilipi normally sees an annual upward swing of rupees five a kg (see chart below),” said Mr Swapan Kumar Ghosh, a sweet-vendor at Thana More in Siliguri. Jilipi , however, is not the only festive platter that Pranab-babu's economy has taken a toll on. The price of items like chanar polao and budiyar laddu have also witnessed an average ten rupees hike per kg. Chanar polao has shot up to Rs 100/kg from the pervious Rs 90 and laddu has swung up to Rs 90/kg from Rs 80. The vendors however, have been “kind” enough not to increase the price of items like rosogulla, lalmohan, barfi etc ~ that are priced on a per piece basis. “Instead of raising the price of these items, we have truncated the size so as to retain our profit without serving a straight blow on the customers’ pocket,” a traditional Bengali sweet-vendor said. JUNIOR NATIONAL BOXING CHAMPION SHIVA THAPA IS IN KALIMPONG KalimNews 25 Sept: Shiva Thapa , the Junior national boxer arrived in Kalimpong accompanied by his father Padam Thapa and Photo Journalist Nanda Kirat Dewan from Assam. After a visit to Sikkim they are here for a felicitation programme organised by Gorkha Sanskritik Sangsthan on the occasion of Phulpati today. Recently Shiva won a bronze medal at the World Junior Boxing Championship in Armenia. He is participating in 2012 Olympic representing India.He is also expected to represent India at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in New Delhi. Now reading in Class 12 in Poona College he is getting trained at Army Sports Institute, Pune under Mission Olympic. In the 21st Sub- Junior National Boxing Championship 2005 in Noida UP Shiva bagged a gold medal after beating services boxer having very good tract record. His first international appearance for the country was at the Hyder Aliyeve Cup at Azarbaizan in Russia in 2008 where he won a gold medal in the 50kg category against Azerbaijan’s Gurbanzade Saikhan. Cong rings, Partha sets date TT, Calcutta, Sept. 23: Trinamul Congress leader Partha Chatterjee today agreed to go to Siliguri on Friday for talks on the mayor’s selection after an assurance from the Congress that its state leaders will not meddle in the process. K. Keshava Rao, the Congress’s in-charge of Bengal, today met Pranab Mukherjee, the state Congress president, and after that called up Chatterjee and other Trinamul leaders. “After the meeting with Pranabda, I assured the Trinamul leaders that state Congress leaders would stop meddling in the selection of the candidate for Siliguri mayor. Pranabda also did not like the manner in which some of our leaders had started lobbying for the post before discussions among councillors started,” Rao said. Partha had put off his visit to Siliguri on September 21 to protest state Congress leaders’ “move to jeopardise the alliance”. Rao came to Calcutta today after coming to know that Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee was upset with the state Congress leaders’ attitude. He made it clear that the high command would accept whatever decision was reached at the councillor level. “My primary concern is to take forward the alliance with Mamataji to the 2011 Assembly polls so that we can oust the ruling CPM from Bengal,” he said. IE, Kolkata,24 Sept:Union Finance Minister and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Pranab Mukherjee has asked the state Congress leaders, including Deepa Dasmunsi, to try and find an amicable solution to the mayoral crisis in Siliguri. The leaders have been urged to sit with Trinamool counterparts and resolve the issue. Mukherjee said it is unwarranted that all the time the state leadership approaches the central leadership over state issues. Senior state Congress leaders, including Pradip Bhattacharjee, Subrata Mukherjee and Dasmunsi, took part in the meeting presided over by Mukherjee. “It was an internal party meeting and I do not want to say anything on the issue. We have already stated that it is our right to get the mayoral post since we secured more seats in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation polls,” said Subrata Mukherjee. On numerous occasions, including the recent issue of fielding candidates for Assembly by-polls, AICC in-charge of Bengal K Keshav Rao and Sonia Gandhi had to intervene. “What our president said today is that we should not approach the top leadership on such issues before trying to solve it among ourselves. He has asked us to hold a series of meetings regarding Siliguri with our Trinamool counterparts,” said a senior leader. Mukherjee also asked his party leaders to desist from making remarks in the media which may go against the alliance with the Trinamool in Bengal. He stressed on regular dialogues and proper coordination between the state Congress and the Trinamool on various issues. Govt trips on teachers PTTI candidates protest in Suri. File picture TT, Calcutta, Sept 23: A legal oversight by the Bengal government has put paid to its plans of immediately recruiting teachers to fill up 54,000 vacant teaching posts in state-aided primary schools. Calcutta High Court today ruled that the state government would have to put the brakes on recruiting teachers on the basis of a notification it had issued in August and instead give priority to those teacher aspirants who had applied in 2006 but had not got jobs. In 2006, the state government had issued a notification seeking application for jobs of primary school teachers and stated that those holding certificates from primary teachers training institutes (PTTI) would get 22 grace marks in the test comprising 100 marks. In Bengal, most PTTIs do not have approval from the National Council for Teachers’ Education, something which is mandatory nationally. So, in 2006 itself an aggrieved party filed a PIL in the high court which responded by ruling that all certificates issued by PTTIs that do not have NCTE approval are “invalid”. Since most of the candidates who had applied for jobs and had appeared for the appointment test had PTTI certificates from institutions that did not have approval of the NCTE, the government put the entire appointment process on hold, but did not cancel the notification seeking applications for jobs as primary teachers. But with pressure to fill up primary schools vacancies piling up, in August this year the state government issued another notification seeking job applications but did not give preference to PTTI certificate holders. However, some candidates who had applied in 2006, moved the high court stating that since the earlier notification of 2006 was not cancelled, the new notification was illegal. Today, a single-judge bench, in an interim order, said the government should first consider the candidates who had applied in 2006 before moving ahead with the new notification. However, it gave the government the option of moving a division bench against today’s order within a month. “The government has not yet cancelled the 2006 recruitment notification,” Justice S. Pal said. “The candidates who sought jobs in 2006 will have to be considered first.” Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, who appeared on behalf of the 2006 candidates, said: “My submission was that since the government neither cancelled the 2006 notification nor declared that the appointment process had been abandoned, it has no authority to issue a new notification seeking applications for jobs in primary schools.” Advocate-general Balai Ray admitted that the order had put his government in a legal problem. “We will move the division bench,” he said.