Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA)

With rising discontent against the Council administration and the shelving of the proposal of Sixth Schedule status to the region, another wave of a mass movement for Gorkhaland began in 2007.The Chairman of the Council was dislodged and banished along with his party members. A new leadership took over the movement. After three years of agitation for a state of Gorkhaland, the party leading the movement reached an agreement with the state government to form a semi-autonomous body to administer the Darjeeling hills. The Memorandum of Agreement for GTA was signed on 18 July 2011 at Pintail Village near Siliguri in the presence of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders. A bill for the creation of GTA was passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on 2 September 2011.

Agreement for GTA was signed on 18 July 2011 at Pintail Village near Siliguri in the presence of
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

According to the accord GTA will have administrative, executive and financial powers but no legislative powers.The GTA agreement too has apparent inbuilt fault-lines. First, lack of legislative powers means that the people of the region have no control over laws to govern themselves by. The most basic instrument to meet the aspirations of the people has thus been denied to them. Second, Dooars again has been left out and instead a verification team has been set to identify “Gorkha majority” areas in the Dooars. Once again, this is a political ploy to  divide Dooars. United Dooars has a distinct history and culture. Diversity has been the mark of Dooars culture as the Gorkhas, Adivasis, Rajbongshis, Bengalis, Meches, Boros and other people groups have lived alongside each other for decades. The move to identify “Gorkha majority” areas will not only deny the aspiration of the people of the region but will also divide the area along communal lines.

Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is a semi-autonomous administrative body for the Darjeeling hills in West Bengal, India. The GTA replaced the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which was formed in 1988 and administered the Darjeeling hills for 23 years. GTA presently has three hill subdivisions Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong and some areas of Siliguri subdivision under its authority.

Share this: