COLOURFUL PHULPATI IN KALIMPONG

Pix: SAMTEN KABO

The Quadro stars of the day felicitated on Phulpati From right: Nanda Kirat Dewan Photo Journalist of UBI and Assam Tribune, Shiva Thapa, National Junior Boxing Champion, Nilu Rai, Boogie Woogie Finalist, Capt Prakash Pradhan, Self reliant educationist of Kalimpong and Jyoti Karki , Secretary of Organiser Gorkha Sanskritik Sangsthan, Kalimpong

BADA DASAIN KO SUBHAKAMANA

Morcha kicks off dress code with phulpati

VIVEK CHHETRI

A young girl dressed as a goddess in a procession in Darjeeling on Friday. (Suman Tamang) TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 25: Dressed in traditional attires, a mosaic of people from across communities joined hands to herald the Dassai today, the first day of the month-long dress code imposed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Members of different communities — Bhutias, Sherpas, Marwaris, Bhojpuris and Lepchas — took part in a predominantly Gorkha tradition of phulpati rally, presenting a picture perfect scene of social harmony in Darjeeling. Girls in chaubandi cholo danced along with masked dancers dressed as the goddess. The biggest phulpati rally was organised by the Gorkha Kala Sanstan, which snaked uphill from the Motor Stand to Chowrastha on a sunny morning. The sounds of madaland dhamphu (traditional Nepali instruments) reverberated the hills as almost every village brought out a rally. Phulpati is a unique custom in which community members collect flowers, petals and other offerings from their houses and take them to the puja pandal to pay obeisance to Goddess Durga. The decorated palanquin carrying the sacred flowers, leaves and sugarcane tied in red clothes — the colour symbolising the goddess — is usually accompanied by an ornate umbrella. It is believed that people who pass underneath the palanquin are absolved of their sins. The tradition dates back to the days of King Pritivinarayan Shah (1723-1775) of Nepal when the phulpati procession used to start from Gorkha, his native place, and end at Kathmandu after covering hundreds of miles. With the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha asking people to wear their traditional dresses for a month from today, many in town were seen attired in their costumes. Roshan Giri and Binay Tamang, the Morcha leaders, also took part in the Sanstan rally in traditional dress. At Chowrasta, singers rendered songs. “From tomorrow, every community will perform its traditional dance for the next one month. The cultural show will be from 4pm to 6pm and the Lepchas will be the first to take the stage tomorrow,” said Tenzing Khambachay, the festival co-ordinator. Marathon meet, but no mayor- Gautam Deb elected Trinamul leader in SMC Partha Chatterjee TT, Sept. 25: The mayor of Siliguri could not be selected even today although Trinamul Congress leader Partha Chatterjee held a marathon discussion throughout the day in the trade hub with councillors from his party and the Congress to arrive at a consensus. “After unanimously choosing Gautam Deb our leader of the party in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, I requested Congress councillors to accept him as a mayoral candidate. But they keep on staking claim to the post. At this juncture, I have left the matter to the councillors from both the parties at the local level to settle the matter at the earliest,” Chatterjee said tonight from aboard the Darjeeling Mail while travelling back to Calcutta. Chatterjee, also the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said he had sent a text message to party chief Mamata Banerjee about today’s development. In Calcutta, Mamata was learnt to have told her aides tonight that she would talk to Bengal Congress president Pranab Mukherjee if the selection of the mayor was not settled at the local level. Chatterjee had told journalists in Siliguri that Darjeeling district Congress president Shankar Malakar and Deb would sit with the councillors and decide on all the 14 posts in the SMC, including the mayor and the chairpersons of borough committees. “The decision has to come by September 30, as we need to submit papers to the SMC before the oath-taking ceremony on October 1. We also need to endorse the list from our party chief and I suppose the Congress, too, needs to do the same with its leadership,” he added. Malakar said he would sit with Congress councillors tomorrow to choose the party leader. While leaving Kiran Chandra Bhawan in Siliguri, Chatterjee spotted Ranjan Sil Sharma chewing paan. Trinamul had denied him a ticket — but did not field anybody in his place either — for spitting betel nut juice on a school official. “Come here! I have repeatedly told you to give up chewing paan. Why are you still taking it?” he said as Sil Sharma went near him. Sil Sharma hastily spat out the paan and slithered into the backseat of Chatterjee’s vehicle. SMC chooses Gautam leader SNS, SILIGURI, 25 SEPT: The Trinamul today selected its Darjeeling district president and councillor from Ward number 17, Mr Gautam Deb, as leader of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation. The Trinamul Opposition leader in the Assembly, Mr Partha Chatterjee held several meetings with the newly elected councillors of the Congress-Trinamul alliance and its leadership to discuss several issues, including the SMC mayor post. “The Congress and Trinamul Darjeeling district presidents Mr Gautam Deb and Mr Shankar Malakar would prepare a list of councillors for different posts and send it to the respective party state leadership for final decision,” said Mr Chatterjee. The Congress and Trinamul district leadership would choose persons for 14 important posts, including the SMC mayor, within 28 September and send it to the state leadership, said the Congress Darjeeling district president, Mr Shankar Malakar. The newly elected councillors would take oath of office in 1 October. Though the Trinamul today announced the name of its leader in the SMC, the Congress leadership is to take some more days to announce the name of its leader. “The newly elected Congress councillors have given the responsibility to the party leadership to select its leader and we are expecting to announce it in a day or two,” said Mr Malakar. According to Congress sources, eminent lawyer and party councillor from the ward number 12 Ms Gangotri Dutta would be the Congress leader in the SMC. Mr Chatterjee, along with Congress and Trinamul district leadership met all newly elected Congress-Trinamul alliance councillors and greeted them. Mr Chatterjee also held a meeting with the Trinamul councillors, where the Trinamul leader in the SMC was selected. Finally, Mr Chatterjee met Congress Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts presidents. According to sources, the Congress and Trinamul leadership have arrived at a consensus over a list of posts to be distributed among the councillors of the two parties. Speaking on the Raiganj Congress MP Mrs Deepa Das Munshi’s comment that the Congress would not leave the SMC mayor post to the Trinamul, Mr Chattopadhyay said: “It is Mrs Das Munshi’s personal opinion. However, we are trying to reach a consensus on the matter and the Congress and Trinamul district presidents have been asked to do the job.” It’s celebration all the way in Siliguri SNS, SILIGURI, 25 Sept.: Though most dhaaks did not beat and the pandals and puja arrangements of most puja committees in Siliguri were still incomplete, a good number of people dressed in their best took to the streets in the town last evening. Puja, at last had arrived. Though the main puja starts on Mahasaptami, the revellers started pandal hopping from Panchami itself. Whether it was Rathkhola in the east or Dadabhai Ground in the south or Bidhan Road in central Siliguri, the frenzy surrounding puja took off on Thursday with people thronging the pandals from evening till night. Though overcast conditions threatened to dampen the festive spirit, the skies held. “Thank God, the rain did not spoil the evening. I would have surely come out, rain or no rain. It would spoil my new dress at the most, but I could not have missed a single day of Puja come what may,” said Dipti Roy of Ashrampara. The college goer had descended at the Baghajatin Park Sarbojanin Durga puja with a group of friends in the evening. There were many who came out in their personal vehicles with families during the day hours as did not want to get stuck in the traffic snarls on the main days of Puja. “We normally prefer to watch the pujas, which are at a distance from our house, on Sashti because the traffic is thin on the day as compared to the other days of the puja. On Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, we go round the pujas in our locality on foot,” said Mr Rathin Sarkar, a Hakimpara resident. Mr Sarkar and his family visited over ten pandals on their four-wheeler last night. Mr Kamal Singha of Ranidanga had come to the town in an auto along with his family to see the pujas in Siliguri last evening as the traffic would not allow the movement of three-wheelers inside the town on the other days of Puja. “It is good to see that the organizers have almost completed their work and the town has already been transformed into a place of light and sound,” he said. Mr Sujay Das of Rangapani came to visit the pujas in Siliguri along with his friends last evening because he was apprehensive that it might pour on the other days and they might miss the pujas this year. “Normally we visit Siliguri on Ashtami, but this year we came earlier as we feared it may rain on the evening of Ashtami,” said Mr Das as he boarded a bus back to his locality beyond town.

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.

1994 cut-off year in job guideline - Age and qualification parameters worked out, blueprint awaits govt approval

TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 23: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the state government have worked out a rough guideline for the regularisation of the contract workers of the DGHC, keeping 1994 as the base year. The Telegraph has learnt that the Morcha delegation along with the Darjeeling district magistrate had worked out the two-page guideline in Calcutta yesterday, which was then submitted to the state home secretary for approval. “The guideline states that either 1994 or the date of joining of the contract workers will be taken into consideration,” a source said. This essentially means that those who had joined before 1994 (the DGHC was formed in 1988) would be considered working in the council since 1994. For those who have joined after the cut-off year, there will not be much problem, for their date of joining would be considered their base year during regularisation. The other parameters that were worked out for regularisation were age and qualification. “At the time of joining, a contract worker must have been at the most 37 years old. Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, ex-servicemen, Other Backward Classes and other categories as prescribed in the West Bengal Service Rules will be given a relaxation of five years,” added the source. This means that those workers who had joined the DGHC in 1988 should have been at the most 37 years in 1994. Also, those who joined the council after 1994 should be less than 37 years at the time of joining. Even though eligibility to various posts has been specified according to the Bengal services rules, sources said “technical experiences” would be taken into account during recruitment. “Those candidates who have had prior experience (before joining the DGHC) in the same post would be given priority,” the source added. All contract workers who have joined the DGHC till April 1, 2007 would be considered for recruitment against the 3,000-odd sanctioned posts, which GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh as the chairman of the council did not fill up. After the meeting in Writers’ Buildings yesterday, home secretary Ardhendu Sen had said the government while filling up these sanctioned vacancies would conduct a “scientific review” to find out how many additional posts could be created to regularise the 6,000-odd casual staff of the council. 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. Asked about the guidelines, Amar Lama, a central committee member of the Morcha, said: “The guidelines have been worked out in such a manner that all DGHC workers who had joined before April 1, 2007, will get permanent jobs.” Regularisation of DGHC casual workers opposed SNS, SILIGURI, 23 SEPT: The Siliguri-based anti-Gorkhaland pressure groups expressed anguish today over the regularisation of DGHC contractual workers by the state government. “Such a drive without settling the verification issue of foreigners among the Nepali settlers in the Darjeeling hills is unjustified and unconstitutional,” said the spokespersons of the Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bacao Committee and Jana Chetana. The state home secretary, Mr Ardhendu Sen met a GJMM delegation comprising members of the Jana Mukti Asthai Karmacahri Sangathan in Kolkata yesterday over the regularization issue. It was decided that a fresh recruitment drive would give priority to the contractual workers, though the matter related to making the contractual posts permanent remained unresolved. Taking a serious view of the matter, the BOBBBC president, Dr Mukunda Majumder said that the state government had genuflected before the pressure tactics by the GJMM. “It is clear that the fasting agitation by the GJMM has made the state government buckle. But the stand of the state government is unconstitutional as the nationality of the workers remains under cloud,” Dr Majumder said. Speaking on the matter, the Jana Chetana president, Dr Debaprasad Kar said: “Accommodating even a single Nepali citizen by the state government as a regular worker in any of its departments by the state government is a violation of the law of the land.” Partha to oversee leader selection SNS, SILIGURI, 23 SEPT: Senior Trinamul leader Mr Partha Chatterjee would visit Siliguri on 25 September to oversee the selection of the party leader in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC). Mr Chattapadhaya's proposed visit is aimed at ensuring the selection of a unanimous leader from among the 15 councillors that the Trinamul has in its kitty. Contesting in alliance with the Congress, the Trinamul had originally won 14 seats in the SMC polls held on 13 September, while an independent winner extended his support to the party later. Congress on the other hand won another 15 seats, thus facilitating the Congress-Trinamul combine an absolute majority in the 47-member Siliguri civic board. Trinamul Darjeeling district president and the Ward number 17 councillor, Mr Gautam Deb, is the frontrunner for the party's leader post in the SMC. However, the name of first time councillor Ms Chaitali Sen Sharma's (Ward 31) is also making the rounds for the post within Trinamul circle. “I am scheduled to fly down to Siliguri on Maha Saptami morning, that is, on 25 September to oversee the party SMC leader selection process and also hold discussions with the Congress-Trinamul joint campaign committee conveners to know their views about the Siliguri mayoral candidate. I would fly back to Kolkata the very next day and submit a report to (Miss) Mamata Banerjee instantly,” Mr Chattapadhaya said over the phone from Kolkata. He however, added that the programme might get changed in case the Trinamul chief instructs otherwise. Trinmaul sources in Siliguri informed that Mr Chattapadhaya is scheduled to preside over the leader selection meeting at the party's district office in Siliguri at 3 pm on 25 September. Later that day, he would also attend a joint gathering of the 30 Congress-Trinamul councillors and hold informal discussions about the future functioning of the SMC.

Junior Boxing Champion Shiva Thapa and Photo-Journalist Nanda Kirat Dewan of Assam felicitated in Gangtok.

Sabotage led to Left’s debacle: CPM

Suman Sahoo, SNS, SILIGURI, 23 SEPT: A report prepared by the CPI-M Darjeeling district secretariat states that: “Sabotage by some of the party men, including some CPI-M Darjeeling district committee members, led to the defeat of the Left Front in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation poll after around 28 years”. The three-page report would be placed in the district committee meeting in Siliguri tomorrow. Reviewing causes of the defeat, the CPI-M district leadership has come to the conclusion that though the SMC poll was held during an “unfavorable time,” the Left Front had a fair chance to recapture the SMC board. But, due to sabotage by a section of party members, including some zonal and district committee members, the Left Front lost in the SMC poll. “Not only were some prominent party members inactive before and during the election, they also supported and campaigned against the party nominees,” the report says. According to the report, a section of party members even fielded Independent candidates against the Left Front nominees, which helped the Congress-Trinamul alliance candidates win in some seats. The report, however, does not mention any person by name for the debacle, nor does it recommend any action against them. According to the report, though the district leadership hoped they could control factionalism inside the party before the election, they failed to do so in time. Still, the district leadership hoped to win 28 to 30 seats as the previous SMC board rendered enough development works and the Congress-Trinamul leadership lacks credibility, the report says. According to the report, the district leadership did not expect good news from the Ward nos. 4, 9, 13, 21, 25, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40 and 46, where the party organisation is suffering due to factionalism. However, in addition to the above-mentioned 15 wards, the Left Front lost in 15 more out of the 47 wards of the SMC. The report has been sent to the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who is, also, in-charge of the party in the district. The district leadership has also suggested some steps, in the report, to be taken to reorganize the party. It may be noted that soon after the SMC election results were out, the CPI-M district leadership ascribed the defeat to the anti-Left torrents sweeping across the state. “The mandate amounts to the triumph of the slogan of ‘change’ at the expense of development,” the state urban development minister and Siliguri MLA Mr Asok Bhattacharya had said at a press conference after the poll results were announced.

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.