Non-Left parties advise against Gorkhaland dialogue

SNS, SILIGURI/KURSEONG, 6 JAN: In a development that might deepen uncertainty over the long lingering Darjeeling tangle, the principal non-Left political parties have expressed their reservation against a political level dialogue on the Gorkhaland issue, as demanded by the GJMM.
The organisations’ opinion assumes significance in view of the state chief secretary, Mr Asoke Mohan Chakrabarty's statement yesterday that he had apprised the chief minister of the political level dialogue demand by the GJMM and it was up to the chief minister to take a decision on the matter.
Speaking on the issue, the state Congress working president, Mr Pradip Bhattacharya said that a political level dialogue to resolve the Darjeeling stalemate would prove futile given the existing state of things. “My party is of the opinion that the administrative level talks should continue for some more time to undo the knots regarding development and other related issues. We are not against political dialogue as such. Yet, the time is not ripe for initiation of such a process. If such a process is initiated before the administrative options are exhausted, it would more likely than not end up as a futile exercise.”
Echoing, the state BJP vice president, Mr Sabyasachi Bagchi said that the state government should allow the continuing administrative dialogue to come to a logical conclusion before opting for a political level negotiation.
“The development issues related to revival of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council should be addressed on a priority basis. As Gorkhaland is a far cry there is no necessity of forcing the dialogue to the next level. A time might come, though it is far off yet, when the statehood cause would have to be addressed in earnest and then the political level talks would become relevant,” he added.
The leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and a senior Trinamul Congress leader, Mr Partha Chatterjee said that the state government must decide first whether it would invite the GJMM as the sole representative of the hill populace to the political dialogue.
“There are instances when the state government refused to invite the GJMM to an all-party meeting, overruling my party's view to the contrary. When the state government makes its stand clear on the matter we would give our opinion whether the dialogue should be graduated to the political level or not,” the Trinamul leader said.
Shutdown
To intensify its agitation for a separate state, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha has decided to shut down all government offices in the proposed Gorkhaland area for an indefinite period starting 8 January, said the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri. The banks have been exempted from the bandh purview, he added. He added that some government offices would, however, remain open two or three days in a week.

Kids missing, NGOs blame parents TT, Siliguri, Jan. 6: The NGOs working against trafficking in the Dooars have alleged that parents and local-level rural leaders were often responsible for the disappearance of children. The allegation comes two days after nine boys of Tulsipara Tea Estate were rescued from a Birpara hotel in Jalpaiguri district. The NGOs said socio-economic conditions often forced family members not to report to police about missing children. “We have talked to each of the nine boys rescued on Monday evening and found that all of them are dropouts and desperate to earn for their families,” said Victor Basu of Dooars Jagaran, an NGO. “Incidents of child trafficking occur here because of socio-economic problems. In some cases, the lucre of money draws children and adolescents into the traffickers’ trap without the parents being aware. But there are cases where parents do not even lodge missing diaries, waiting for the children to return on their own.” On Monday, too, the parents of the nine boys did not lodge any complaint till Dooars Jagaran informed them about the rescue. “Often parents feel that children can complement the family income by earning. A neighbour may discourage a parent to file a complaint citing an example of how his son, too, had disappeared, but three months later, sent Rs 2,000,” said Basu, who had a word of appreciation for the police. “Contrary to popular belief, the police are very active. But often local-level or rural leaders are not very helpful.” A parent who can hardly read or write may approach panchayat members to help him file a complaint. These rural leaders, Basu said, do not want to get involved in the entire process of going to the police station and the subsequent court presence. Basu claimed that his NGO is into consistent awareness drives in the tea estates located in and around Banarhat in Dhupguri block. “We have volunteers in tea estates to monitor movement of outsiders who can be traffickers. Their (volunteers) numbers will be increased. Also, awareness drives through distribution of leaflets, pamphlets, posters and open meetings will be intensified,” Basu said. “However, what seems surprising is the lack of government action or initiative to reduce the risk of trafficking. It is only some NGOs like us which are involved in the process.” Dooars Jagaran in a bid to find out the trends of trafficking has also decided to conduct a survey in seven tea estates in and around Banarhat. “As there is no police complaint in most cases, we do not know the trends or the modus operandi of the traffickers. We will thus take up a door-to-door survey,” Basu said. Indrajit Dey, the secretary of the Birpara Welfare Organisation, another NGO working in the Dooars, too, alleged government inaction. “We get adequate help and co-operation from police officials but those in the civil administration are hardly seen,” he said. “By spending whatever limited funds we have, we track and rescue children and women on our own. Not a single penny is given by the government. The rate of women trafficking has reduced to some extent but child trafficking seems to be on the rise. These children are mostly taken to Sikkim or Delhi where they work in houses or hotels as aides. Many live in drastic conditions and do not get any wages.” Biswanath Choudhury, the state social welfare minister, however, denied charges of government apathy. “Officials in our department are consistent about awareness campaigns to curb trafficking throughout the state,” he told The Telegraph over the phone from Calcutta today. “To attract and educate people, we are planning to introduce street plays and other forms of performing arts in the awareness campaign. Such forms of awareness, we feel, would help in better penetration and dissemination of our message among the rural masses.” Insurance for tea workers, small growers TT, Siliguri, Jan. 6: Small growers and workers in their plantations in north Bengal can now enjoy an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh for accidents by paying Rs 8.50 per annum. The scheme, designed by the Price Stabilisation Fund Trust under the Union ministry of commerce and industries in association with the Tea Board of India, was launched in north Bengal at a programme in Jalpaiguri last Wednesday. “The scheme aims to provide accidental coverage of Rs 1 lakh to each small grower and workers who come under its purview. Growers need to enroll themselves for Rs 100, while workers just need a certificate from the grower in whose plantation he/she works,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the vice-president of the Jalpaiguri Zilla Kshudra Cha Chashi Samiti. “The annual premium is Rs 17, to be paid equally by the grower/worker and the central government.” There are around 25,000 small growers in north Bengal and 60,000-70,000 workers in their plantations. “The scheme is applicable for workers in tea estates as well as those associated with coffee and rubber plantations,” Chakraborty said. The Centre has chosen the National Insurance Company Ltd to implement the scheme across the country. “The insured sum is Rs 1 lakh, which a beneficiary or his/her nominee will receive proportionately in case of permanent or partial disability and full in case of death,” said T.K. Bhowmik, the senior divisional manager of the insurance company in Siliguri. “If due to accident, a grower or a worker cannot join his duties for three months and takes time to recover, we will pay his wages for the period, subject to a maximum of Rs 15,000,” said Bhowmik. Introduction of the insurance scheme has brought cheers both to growers and workers. “Till date, in case of any unfortunate incident, the workers had to depend on the employer for financial assistance. Now with this insurance cover, the government will pay them or their nominees the money,” Chitta Dey, a trade union leader said. Small growers, however, are yet to decide on the payment of premium of their workers. “We welcome the decision as this will considerably reduce our liabilities. We are yet to decide whether we will bear the workers’ premium or not,” Chakraborty said. Villagers ‘take over’ forest tract - Fringe dwellers cite act for control of green patch Villagers put up a board in Kodal Basti area of the forest on Wednesday. Picture by Anirban Choudhuri ANIRBAN CHOUDHURI, TT, Alipurduar, Jan. 6: More than 500 forest villagers “took control” of a 2,985-hectare forest tract on the outskirts of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary this afternoon by invoking their rights under a forest rights act. The villagers brought with them boards and nailed them to tree trunks, announcing that no one would be allowed to conduct any activity in the Kodal Bon Basti area of the wildlife III forest division without the permission of a gram sabha they had formed. They invoked Section 3(i) and Section 5 of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. The act aims “to recognise and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest dwelling and Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in such forest for generations but whose rights could not be recorded”. In Bengal the act is yet to be implemented. Section 3(i) of the act deals with the “right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they (forest dwellers) have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use”. Section 5 empowers the gram sabhas and village-level institutions to protect and preserve the wildlife and habitat and to regulate access to community forest resources. The villagers celebrated today’s “take-over” of the forest land, 25km from here, by bursting crackers, smearing each other with gulal and cracking open coconuts. The residents of North and South Mendabari, Kurmai, Andu, Mantharam, Banin and Salkumarhat, assembled on the grounds of the Kodal Basti community hall at 1pm and trekked to the forest on foot. On the way, they had not been stopped by guards at the forest checkpost. In November, the villagers had stopped the forest department from felling trees in the Bania V compartment of the Chilapata range of the same division. The forest officials had then sat with the villagers to sort out the issue, but no solution was reached and the felling has been suspended since then. “According to the law, the forest department has to take the permission of the gram sabha to undertake any activity in the forest. In our state the law is yet to be enforced, so we decided to invoke our legal rights and took control of the forest. This is a historical moment for us,” said Bandhan Minj, the president of the gram sabha. He said traditionally the forefathers of the villagers had been the keepers of the forest. “From now on, we will regulate the entry of forest staff and tourists inside the forest. We will not allow guides from outside to escort tourists inside. Our local youths will act as guides as they know the forests better than anyone else,” Minj said. The divisional forest officer of wildlife III, Om Prakash, said the villagers had been adamant about not allowing felling of trees. “We had been assured by the villagers that they would not disturb the felling (but the promise was not kept). However, I have not received any report that they have taken over the forest and set up signboards. If they have done it, we will take legal action against them,” he said. The DFO added that according to the act, the villagers can form gram sabhas. “But under the rules, there should be a subdivisional-level committee with the subdivisional officer as its chairman and under its instructions, the members of the gram sabha will discharge their duties,” he said. In November, when the felling was stopped, forest officials had threatened legal action, but nothing has been done so far.