Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung has assured the 10 hill communities demanding Scheduled Tribe status that he would seek an update on their demand from the Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram in his upcoming visit to Delhi on August 27. Gurung announced this on Thursday in Darjeeling at a meeting of the Gorkha Janjati Kalyan Samiti that represents the 11 hill communities seeking Schedule Tribe status.
Gurung had first placed the demand before Oram on July 12 of this year. “I will be in Delhi from August 27 to 29 and meet the Union tribal minister to urge him to expedite the issue,” he said. He will lay the foundation stone for a Gorkha Bhavan in the national capital on August 29 in Saket. The Bhawan is being built at a cost of Rs17 crore and will get completed in the next 18 months.
The demand for ST status is a long-standing one of the 10 hill communities — they are Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunuwar, Thami and Yakkha (Dewan) — and the state government had forwarded the list to the Centre.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sent the request for their ST status to the Centre in February about a fortnight before the model code of conduct was to be imposed for the Lok Sabha elections.
Gurung has asked representatives of all the 11 hill communities seeking Schedule Tribe status to accompany him to the national capital. “We are doing our job and want community representatives to see how the GJM is doing it and how much progress has been made.”
GJM chief Bimal Gurung speaking at the Gorkha Janjati Kalyan Samiti meetingon Thursday. |
The demand for ST status is a long-standing one of the 10 hill communities — they are Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunuwar, Thami and Yakkha (Dewan) — and the state government had forwarded the list to the Centre.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sent the request for their ST status to the Centre in February about a fortnight before the model code of conduct was to be imposed for the Lok Sabha elections.
Gurung has asked representatives of all the 11 hill communities seeking Schedule Tribe status to accompany him to the national capital. “We are doing our job and want community representatives to see how the GJM is doing it and how much progress has been made.”
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