Second round of tri-partite talks on Gorkhaland held

NEW DELHI - The West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) were Saturday asked to file, in two weeks, their observations on the central government’s proposal of an interim set-up in place of the existing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council to resolve the Gorkhaland issue.

The second round of tripartite talks between the central government, the state government and the GJM was held here Saturday amid demands by the GJM for a separate Gorkhaland state out of the northern parts of West Bengal.

But the central government has come up with a proposal to concede more executive powers to the existing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council or to replace it with a new body.

“It was agreed that the government of West Bengal and the GJM will submit their point wise observations and reactions to the union government’s proposal regarding the interim authority within two weeks,” a home ministry spokesperson said.

The state and the central governments want to include only the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong in the proposed interim set-up while the GJM is seeking inclusion of the Terai and Nepali-dominated pockets of the Dooars.

The proposal will be discussed “in detail” on Aug 17, the spokesperson said

“The third political level talks will take place after the monsoon session of parliament and after thrashing out the differences in the proposal at the Aug 17 official level talks,” he said.

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken. Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai also attended the meeting.

West Bengal Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra represented the Left Front government and union minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi represented the Trinamool Congress.

The GJM delegation was led by its general secretary Roshan Giri.