A high-power committee has recommended inclusion of five mouzas from the plains into the newly formed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in the Darjeeling hills.
( Mouza is a land revenue collection unit as well as settlement, a legal term on land records)
The recommendations were made following the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) claim for inclusion of 398
GJM is the dominant political organisation in hills that is demanding separate statehood for Darjeeling on ethnic grounds.
As part of the GTA Act, a committee — comprising representatives of State, Central as well as the GJM — reviewed the territorial disputes. The committee was headed by Mr Justice Shyamal Sen.
In a report submitted on Friday, the committee recommended inclusion of five mouzas — three in Darjeeling district and two in Jalpaiguri district — from the plains into the hill administration.
Mr Roshan Giri, General Secretary of GJM, said that the party was unhappy with the committee's suggestions. “It is a humiliation for us. We will take up the matter with our party to decide the future course of action,” he told Business Line .
The GJM had demanded the inclusion of 398 mouzas — 196 from Dooars, 199 from Terai and three from Rajganj — claiming dominance of Nepali ethnicity.
The West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, however, said: “There is no reason for any misunderstanding. The decision was neither by the State Government nor the Centre. It was by the high-power committee.”