Siliguri, 22nd August: Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with leaders from the hills in Siliguri on Saturday to discuss ways to address the long-standing issues of the Darjeeling hills. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista and leaders of several hill-based political parties attended the meeting.
A decision was taken to form a committee to work towards resolving the long-standing issues of the hills. The committee will be headed by Centre-appointed interlocutor Pankaj Singh, while leaders of various political parties from the hills are also expected to be part of it.
Speaking after the meeting, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said that steps would be taken within the framework of the Constitution to address the issues of the hills. He said a new committee had been formed and that everyone present had put forward their views during the meeting, which were heard by the Home Minister.
Bista further said that development works would be undertaken in the hills and alleged that the region’s dignity had been damaged under the CPI(M) and TMC. He added that the BJP government would work to address the difficulties faced by the people of the hills.
Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Vardhan Shringla described the discussion as very positive and said the process of finding a solution to the issues had begun. He said the committee formed under Pankaj Singh would look into the matters.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha General Secretary Roshan Giri said the committee had been formed to place the various issues of the hills before the Centre. He said the long-standing demands and problems of the hills would be raised through the committee and efforts would be made to find solutions within the constitutional framework.