SAHID D.B. GIRI STATUE IN KALIMPONG

3 Hrs. Hill Bundh in Kalimpong on 19th November Pix: Samiran Paul

Hill bandh today

SNS, Darjeeling, 19 NOV: The GJMM has called a 24-hour bandh tomorrow to press for regularisation of jobs for DGHC casual employees.

DGHC staff hold DM hostage - Siege lifted at midnight after assurance that permanent job status would be discussed today

A blockade set up by DGHC casual workers in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Darjeeling/Siliguri, Nov. 19: The district magistrate and 14 of his staff members went without food and water for nearly 12 hours today as more than 500 DGHC contract workers laid siege to the district collectorate in Darjeeling. The officials were not allowed to even use the toilet for the first seven hours of the siege that started at 11.15am. The workers had been demanding regularisation of their jobs, the letters for which they claimed the government had promised to distribute from November 17. At 5.45pm, the protesters came out of the chambers, including that of district magistrate Surendra Gupta, to sit on the collectorate corridor and the courtyard. Gupta and his staff were then allowed to use the toilets. However, no food or water made its way to the officers till nearly 10pm when the protesters offered them biscuits and flattened rice. The Janmukti Asthahi Karmachari Sangathan (JAKS), the organisation of contract workers affiliated to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, had plans to announce an agitation today. But by 10.30am, all JAKS members assembled at Gorkha Dukha Nibarak Sammelan Hall and soon started setting up blockades on roads across the hills and confining the collectorate officials to their chambers. The blockades from 11am to 2pm hit traffic hard. Many people, who were supposed to catch afternoon flights and usually start from Darjeeling between 9am and 10am, were stranded at various points across the hills. Till 2pm only ambulances were allowed to move around. By then almost three hours had passed since Gupta, along with P. Zimba, the additional district magistrate, Amalkanti Roy, the subdivisional officer of Darjeeling, and at least 11 other officials of the collectorate had been confined to their rooms. Many officials were seen frantically calling out to the Morcha leaders to allow them to use the toilets, but the protesters refused to budge. The other employees of the district magistrate’s office had been asked to leave as the protesters locked the main gate of the campus. Machendra Subba, the president of JAKS, said: “We had waited patiently for the government to live up to its word, but it has failed. We will continue to confine the officials until we get a positive response on our appointment.” At 9.30pm, Morcha president Bimal Gurung met the district magistrate. “The DGHC administrator has not kept his word… We demand his resignation as well as that of the principal secretary of the DGHC,” Gurung said after he came out of Gupta’s chamber. The district magistrate is the principal secretary of the DGHC. Another group of 500 JAKS members laid siege to administrator B.L. Meena’s bungalow at Pintail Village, near Siliguri. A blockade was set up on NH55 from 11am to 2pm at Dagapur, 6km from Siliguri. Around 6pm, JAKS members entered the courtyard of Meena’s bungalow and refused to budge unless the appointment letters came. “They are sitting outside shouting slogans, the police are there,” Meena said over the phone. He said the regularisation issue had been discussed with senior state government officials in Calcutta. “The best possible efforts are being made to sort it out, but it will take time,” the administrator said. Morcha central committee member Amar Lama said Meena had given them a written assurance on October 30 that appointment letters would be issued from November 17. “We waited till yesterday but the government has done little. They are probably trying to politicise the issue. We have told the district magistrate to ask the DGHC administrator to come to Darjeeling within four hours,” said Lama. When reported that Lama has demanded that he visit Darjeeling in four hours, Meena said: “Who is he (Lama)? I am not bound to take orders from him.” Casual workers press for regularisation of jobs SNS SILIGURI/KUSEONG, 19 NOV: The Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) casual workers affiliated to the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), have launched a simultaneous agitation at Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Siliguri since this morning demanding regularisation of jobs. As part of the intensified agitation, thousands of activists of the GJMM affiliated casual workers body ~ the Jan Mukti Asthai Karmachari Sangathan (JMAKS), demonstrated at the DM office in Darjeeling, the SDO offices at Kalimpong and Kurseong and the DGHC administrator Mr BL Meena's camp office at Pintail Village near Siliguri. The demonstrations were on till the filing of this report this evening, with the DM, Mr Surendra Gupta, the SDOs of Kalimpong, Kurseong and the DGHC administrator, Mr Meena, cooped up in their respective office chambers. A large number of policemen were also present at the demonstration sites amidst serious apprehension of some commotion. As per the JMAKS president, Mr Machindra Subba, the demonstrations would continue until the administration handed them over the regularisation letters as was agreed upon in a negotiation with the state government on 17 September. “Following a fasting agitation by us, the administration had announced to regularise 3,472 casual staffs in the first phase and the regularisation letters were to be issued by the DGHC administrator from 17 November. But that has not happened as yet and the DGHC administrator has now left Darjeeling and is camping at Pintail Village in Siliguri. Let me clarify, until and unless the administration hands us over the regularisation letters, we would not allow the officials to leave office and the demonstration would continue,” Mr Subba said. Meanwhile, both the Darjeeling DM and the DGHC administrator said that regularising the jobs was not in their hand and they have reported today's development to the state authorities. “As of now, DGHC incurs around Rs 2.60-crore a month towards the salaries of the 6,287 casual staffs and even if 3,472 of them are regularised, the expenditure for salary would shoot up to anything between Rs 7-8 crore a month. Now, unless the state government sanctions additional funds, wherefrom this money would come? I have conveyed the matter to the higher authorities and all of us are sincerely trying to sort the issue as early as possible,” DGHC administrator Mr Meena said. Contacted over the issue, the state home secretary, Mr Ardhendu Sen, informed that the state government was working on the regularisation process, but a solution cannot be dished out overnight. “There are several aspects that needs to be taken into consideration for regularising the jobs and we are working on it. But the process will take some time. The agitating employees would have to understand this,” Mr Sen told over the phone from Kolkata. Earlier in the day, the JMAKS activists had also blocked the Siliguri-Darjeeling national highway 55 at several spots inconveniencing commuters. Many miss flights for blockades TT, Siliguri, Nov. 19: Several people travelling out of the hills could not make it to Bagdogra Airport on time today and missed the flights because of the road blockades set up by the Janmukti Asthahi Karmachari Sangathan (JAKS). Those who missed the flights were mainly visitors. They were to have boarded four planes leaving the airport between 1pm and 3pm. While three flights were bound for Calcutta, the other one’s destination was Delhi. Airport sources said around 10 to 15 per cent of the passengers from the hills who had booked tickets did not show up today. But they could not specify the number of passengers who failed to reach the airport on time. “I pleaded with them (the protesters) to allow me a passage as I was supposed to catch a Calcutta-bound flight scheduled to leave at 2.40pm. They did not heed my plea and I called up people (airline), cancelled my ticket and booked a seat on another flight tomorrow. I was supposed to reach Mumbai this evening and ended up staying in Siliguri today,” Shennaz B. Elavia, a psychologist and a corporate consultant from Mumbai, said. Elavia had been to Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology as a resource person to attend a seminar. She was coming down after visiting the Neora Valley National Park when she was stopped at Gorubathan. Samrat Sanyal, a tour-operator, said passengers from Siliguri had not faced any problems in reaching the airport as NH31 that connects Bagdogra was open. “We had one client, one Mr R. Sumanna from Hyderabad, who had booked ticket on a Calcutta flight scheduled to depart the airport at 2.40pm. He got stranded in Kurseong, but somehow persuaded the demonstrators to let him proceed, showing the flight ticket. He reached Bagdogra at 2.30pm, but could enplane as the flight was delayed by half-an hour,” said Sanyal. BJP seeks GJMM & pro-Kamtapuri forces support for bandh SNS, SILIGURI, 19 NOV: To garner support for its movement against price rise, the BJP state unit today appealed to several regional forces, including the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha and the Kamtapur Progressive Party, to back its proposed 12-hour strike on 30 November. The BJP state general secretary and in-charge of the organization in north Bengal, Dr Biswapriya Roychowdhury today met the KPP and GJMM leadership to seek support. The saffron leader slammed the state and the Central governments for failing to check rise of prices of essential commodities. “Both the state and Central governments have failed to control prices of essential commodities. The governments are too busy to look into the poorman's plight,” Dr Roychowdhury said at a press conference, here today. The BJP would appeal to all parties, except the Congress and the Left Front constituents. Although the Trinamool leadership has declined to back the proposed strike, the BJP leadership is expecting to draw support from other regional parties. “We would appeal to all political organisations to support our movement for a genuine cause,” the BJP leader said. Commenting on the Trinamool's refusal to back its strike, Dr Roychowdhury said: “Although Trinamool chief Miss Mamata Banerjee left the NDA government for a trivial matter, she is reluctant to go against the UPA government for a crucial issue.” The BJP Darjeeling district leadership has decided to distribute leaflets seeking support from the people. Informing this, BJP Darjeeling district president Mr Arun Sarkar said: “We would also seek support from social organisations for the movement.” Lepchas call off Dzongu march TT, Gangtok, Nov. 19: The Kalimpong-based Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association, which was supposed to begin a march to Dzongu today to offer prayers at the holy site, has called off the journey following resistance from its community members in North Sikkim. “Our representatives were told by the North Sikkim district administration that permission would be granted to only 10 people as they feared breakdown of law and order following repeated protests by the Lepchas in Dzongu and the panchayats,” said ILTA spokesperson Ajik B. Tamsang. The Lepcha body decided to call off the march in an emergency meeting in Kalimpong last evening. “In future, we will sit with the Sikkim government to discuss details of our pilgrimage,” Tamsang said. The ILTA’s first attempt to march to Dzongu was also foiled. In April 2008, about 500-odd Lepchas were bundled into vehicles at Dikchu, the entry point to the holy site, and brought back to Rangpo on the border with Kalimpong subdivision following hostilities from local people. This year, too, the Lepchas of North Sikkim have repeatedly approached district collector T.N. Kazi for not allowing the march. Ruling Sikkim Democratic Front MLA from Dzongu Sonam Gyatso Lepcha had objected to the march, terming it as an “interference with our developmental activities that was laced with political overtones”. Hill lady in Antarctica, aim Pole- Skiers to reach destination in January Members of the expedition pitch a tent during their training in Norway. (Top) The skiers squeezed inside the tent. Picture courtesy: Robert Hollingworth TT, Vivek Chhetri Darjeeling, Nov. 19: Strong whispering wind in Antarctica might have blown away the tents but it has failed to shred the spirit of Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu, who as a member of the Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition is vying to be the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole. While speaking exclusively to The Telegraph “from somewhere in Antarctica”, Reena sounded high on adrenaline. “The conditions are beautiful but difficult. The winds are very strong and two of our tents were blown away and we had to work hard to set them up again,” she said over the sat-phone. After spending a week at Punta Arenas, Chile, as part of the pre-expedition preparation, the team reached the base camp in Antarctica on a specially equipped aircraft. The four-and-a-half hour flight is undertaken only a few times each year during the short austral summer. The team is presently camping somewhere near the Patriot Hills — which is the only commercial base camp in Antarctica. The Hills lie on the lee of a range of mountains, including Antarctica's tallest peak, Mt Vinsion, and are situated near a vast area of naturally occurring blue ice that is used as a runaway, said a spokesperson of the team in an email to The Telegraph. “We will be leaving this place in the next two days for another point from where we will start to ski,” said Reena, a Darjeeling girl who settled in Delhi after marrying Everester Loveraj Dharmshaktu. Once the team starts skiing, there will be no trained guides or dropping of food. The team will have to fend for themselves, do every chore right from pitching the tent to cooking their meals on their own. “We are getting up as early as 7am and skiing as much as possible,” said Reena. For a week, the team has acclimatised at Patriot Hills where the average temperature has hovered between –20 degrees Celsius and –40 degrees Celsius. They have also adjusted to 24-hour daylight and dazzling scenery that is so bright that it could cause blindness and the constant threat of serious sunburn because of lack of sufficient ozone above Antarctica. The Kaspersky Expedition will see women from eight Commonwealth countries – Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom – brave blizzards, crevasses and temperatures below –40 degrees Celsius as they ski 900km over approximately 40 days to the Geographic South Pole. On reaching their target, the team members from Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana and Jamaica will be the first people from their respective nations, male or female, to ski to the South Pole. Those from India, New Zealand and Singapore will be the first women from their nations to make this symbolic and prestigious journey. The expedition, which is being led by Felicity Aston, is being organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth and is expected to reach South Pole during the first week of January. Reena has not been able to contact any of her family members. “Please tell them I am absolutely fine and please tell all my well-wishers to pray for me,” she said. MID DAY MEAL REVISED  PIB:The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved revision of the National Programme for Mid Day Meal in Schools according to the following norms:  i. The food norm for upper primary children has been revised to increase the quantity of pulses from 25 to 30 grams, vegetables from 65 to 75 grams and to decrease the quantity of oil and fat from 10 to 7.5 grams. ii. The cooking cost (excluding the labour and administrative charges) has been revised to Rs.2.50 for primary and Rs.3.75 for upper primary children with effect from 01.12.2009 and to further revise it by 7.5% on 1.4.2010 and again on 01.04.2011. The cooking cost will be shared between the centre and the NER States on 90:10 basis and with other States / UTs on 75:25 basis. iii. A separate provision for payment of honorarium of Rs.1000 per month to each cook-cum-helper has been made. Also, a norm for engaging cook-cum-helpers in schools has been prescribed. Now, one cook-cum-helpers in schools has been prescribed. Now, one cook-cum-helper can be engaged in a school having upto 25 students, two cooks-cum-helper can be engaged in a school having 26 to 100 students, and one additional cook-cum-helper for every addition of upto 100 students. The expenditure towards the honorarium of cooks-cum-helpers will be shared between the Centre and the States / UTs on the same pattern as given above. iv. Determination of cost of construction of a kitchen-cum-store on the basis of State Schedule of Rates and the plinth area norm laid by the Department of School Education & literacy on the basis of number of children studying in the school. The cost of construction of kitchen-cum-store will be shared between the Centre and the states / UTs on the same pattern as given above. v. Transportation assistance in the 11 special Category States [8 NE States, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand) has been made at pat with the PDS rates prevalent in these States. vi. The payment of cost of foodgrains to FCI will now be made at the district level. The above revision would involve an additional expenditure of Rs.10140.33 crore for the Central Government and Rs.4280.79 crore for the States / UTs for the balance period of the 11th Five year Plan. The expected number of children to be covered under Mid day Meal Scheme during 2009-10 are 8.41 crore for primary and 3.36 crore for upper primary (total:11.77 crore children ) per school day. On an average 8.33 crore children of primary and 2.86 crore children of upper primary classes (total 11.19 crore children) were covered under the Scheme during 2008-09 by spending Rs.6687.99 crore and utilizing 20.23 lakh MTs of foodgrains. The MDM is an ongoing scheme. The overall responsibility of implementation of the Scheme lies with the State / UT Governments. The revision of cost will be publicized through media and displayed outside the school walls for the information of all concerned and effective timely implementation . The target group under the Scheme are all children attending classes I-VIII in Government, Government aided and Local body schools, Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) Centres including Madrasas and Maqtabs supported under SSA. All such children are to be given a mid day meal on all school days. The revised norms will facilitate the implementing agency to serve mid day meals to the children in prescribed quantity and of good quality. This will help children fight classroom hunger, concentrate better on classroom activities, break social barriers and foster social harmony besides providing nutritional support.