A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance partners from Darjeeling region, accompanied by BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya met the Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy and senior Home Ministry officials to discuss various issues concerning Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista in a Press Release maintained that a detailed discussion was also held for over an hour on granting of Schedule Tribe status for the 11 left out Gorkha sub-tribes and Permanent Political Solution for the long pending demands of the people.
According to Bista, the MoS Home informed the delegation that the Union Government is diligently working towards fulfilling both the commitments, and appraised the delegation about the progress that has been made so far with regards to these two issues.
Reportedly, G. Kishan Reddy stated that the process for inclusion of 11 left-out Gorkha sub-tribes is already being undertaken and that the Union Home Ministry is in communication with the Registrar General of India (RGI) regarding with request to expedite the process. He assured the delegation that, the government on its part has been sincerely working towards the inclusion of left-out Gorkha tribes at the earliest.
“Regarding Permanent Political Solution, the Hon’ble MoS informed the delegation that the government is aware of the significance of the need for peace, stability and economic progress in the Chicken Neck region, and is actively working towards finding a Permanent Political Solution. He informed the delegation of the steps taken so far in this regards and has stated that the process is a top priority for the government,” the statement read.
According to the information, the delegation comprised of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) President Man Ghising, Ex-MP and Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) President RB Rai, Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) leader Pratap Khati, Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba, Dawa Pakhrin of GoRaNiMo, Bikash Rai of Sumeti Mukti Morcha, Dr Kalyan Dewan of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mahendra Chhetri of GNLF and Kishore Pradhan of CPRM.
