Regs
Barun

But there is also this talk about creating an interim council to be headed by Bimal Gurung to look over the transformation for the DGHC to the GHCD (Gorkha Hill Council Darjeeling). Also the fact that today in the meeting GJM is said to have agreed with the West Bengal Government on the Sixth Schedule. Which means that Sixth Schedule is on! Sadly, there has been much hobnobbing and under the table negotiation between Central/State Government, GNLF and GJM.

Subash Ghisingh may be out but Sixth Schedule may be in.

I just heard that Ghising is resigning on 16th February.

I just heard that Ghising is resigning on 16th February.

I checked it. thank you very much.

regds

Vimal

The Project of Sixth Schedule

The Sixth Schedule to the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was tabled in the parliament in the last week of November 2007. The overall aim of the bill on paper is to protect the socio-cultural identity of the people residing in Darjeeling hills and speeding up the overall development in the region. Majority of the people of Darjeeling hills, are however, skeptical with regard to the long-term political objective of the West Bengal in expediting the process of Sixth Schedule.

Evidently, the provisions under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitutions were historically evolved to administer the tribal majority areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura through the district council or the regional councils. However, an exception was made in case of Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) located in the state of Assam when the area was accorded Sixth Schedule status even though the members of the Scheduled Tribe Communities were not in Majority and reportedly comprised only 38 per cent of the population of the area. Under the provisions of Sixth Schedule, the Councils are vested with legislative powers on specified subjects and are allotted certain sources of taxation. They are also given powers to set up and administer their system of justice and maintain administrative and welfare services in respect of land, revenue, forests, education, public health etc.

The application of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution has not been extended to any other State of India besides North-Eastern States. It is further clear that the whole concept of autonomous council has its root in the tribal dominated areas of North East where there historically existed tribal councils. Hence, its relevance in the non-tribal dominated areas like Darjeeling Hills is minimal. Darjeeling is a multi-ethnic region where people belonging to various caste, creed, and region have found places for themselves over the years. The region is a melting pot of ethnic diversity.

As already highlighted above, Sixth Schedule was originally evolved by the framers of the Indian constitution for the socio-economic development of selected tribal dominated areas located in the North-East India. In this connection, a sample survey was conducted by the office of the Registrar General of India in October 2005. The survey found that the ST population constituted only 31.4 percent of the total population of the DGHC areas. Irrespective of such an uncongenial socio-cultural situation for Sixth Schedule provisions, the Government of West Bengal has been hell bent to get through its project of Sixth Schedule in the Darjeeling Hills in the last few months. The reasons behind the project may be debated in following lines-

First, provisions under the Sixth Schedule to be granted to Darjeeling Hills are the creation of West Bengal. The civil society members and intellectuals were not consulted during the time of its preparation. The lone representative of the people of Darjeeling hills was the care taker Subash Ghishing who has long been hypnotized by West Bengal and who has little ability to internalise the pros and cons of the anticipated Schedule. Consequently, West Bengal has evolved provisions under the said Schedule in such a way that the implementation of Sixth Schedule in Darjeeling hills will have little or no impact on its overall authority on the Darjeeling hills. Hence, if the Sixth Schedule gets through in the parliament, it is a win-win situation for West Bengal and a historic loss for the people of Darjeeling Hills.

Secondly, implementation of Sixth Schedule in Darjeeling Hills means opportunely obstructing the incoming way of a separate state of ‘Gorkhaland’ for at least 50 to 100 years. It will be a historic blunder that will bury the long cherished and aspired dream of the people of Darjeeling Hills. It will further go against the raison d’etre of the original Gorkhaland Movement that sacrificed several young souls and households of Darjeeling Hills. The people of Darjeeling hills should also take note of the fact that Sixth Schedule to the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) has not ended the ethnic conflicts and development aspirations of the people of the said Council in Assam. It has not been able to fulfill the aspirations and requirements of the people so diverse in nature.

To conclude:

It is important to understand that mere institutional and legal empowerment of the local communities does not address in itself issues of social justice and inequality and certainly does not lead naturally or necessarily to better policies. At the same time we also need to know that devolution and decentralization are an indispensable component of any attempt to move towards social justice and sustainability. Hence, the challenge ahead is to re-conceptualize the very concept of community representation and the institutional arrangements that we often envision with reference to their relevance to the regions and the people therein so that inter regional as well as intra regional disparities are reduced and sustainable development is attained. In addition, apart from the development strategies on ethnic and linguistic lines in any regional plans scientific allocations of resources and the respective functions in this regard need also to be worked out.

http://beacononline.wordpress.com/about-contributors/mr-vimal-khawas/

Prashant Phenomenon, Darjeeling Hills and Sixth Schedule

A new chapter to the history of Darjeeling hills was added on the December 6, 2005 following a tripartite agreement between the DGHC, the West Bengal government, and the Government of India. The objective of this agreement is to replace the existing Darjeeling Gorkha Hills Council to be known as Gorkha Hill Council, Darjeeling, under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India after due consultative, legislative and constitutional processes by the State and Central Governments, so as to fulfill economic, educational and linguistic aspirations and the preservation of land-rights, socio-cultural and ethnic identity of the hill people; and to speed up the infrastructure development in the hill areas.

In the last two years the draft Sixth Schedule Bill for Darjeeling hills has been dissected, analysed and examined by several critics including the academicians, journalists and general public. It has been found that there is hardly any difference between what the Council was before and what it is proposed to be by the draft Bill except the constitutional recognition for the DGHC. The Bill proposes only some minor changes here and there and revision of electoral representation in the updated Council. Many political analysts maintain that the Sixth Schedule drama is nothing more than Ghising’s ploy to delay further the long overdue DGHC election in the region and safeguard his chair. Still others lament that it was just the usual game of Bengal Government in collusion with Subash Ghising against the people of Darjeeling Hills. Ghising is also accused of the act of non-inclusion of his council colleagues and the general public of Darjeeling hills before he agreed upon to the draft Sixth Schedule prepared by the Government of West Bengal.

Importantly, the draft Bill was gathering dust in New Delhi for about two years. Both the Government of West Bengal and Government of India had long understood the dynamics of Darjeeling hills and nature of the people therein. They were aware of the mystic presence of Subash Ghising in Darjeeling Hills and his overwhelming popular image in the area. Hence, they never took heed of the fragmented oppositions and voices of the members of civil society against the toothless Sixth Schedule provisions offered by the Bengal Government to the region. The lopsided and opportunist opposition parties within Darjeeling Hills had tried tooth and nail to mobilize the general public against the draft Sixth Schedule Bill but were seldom successful in their venture. Notably, the general public of Darjeeling Hills under the leadership of Professor Mahendra P. Lama had prepared and submitted an alternative and drastically updated Sixth Schedule provisions to the Government of India and Bengal Government long back in opposition to the Sixth Schedule provisions prepared by the West Bengal and signed by Ghising. Professor Lama have time and again highlighted in various public forums that Sixth Schedule as such is not a bad proposition for Darjeeling Hills. However, the degree and extent of provisions within the Schedule and the way in which these provisions are formulated becomes critical for the sustainable future of the region and its people. According to him, if Darjeeling efficiently negotiates with the government and brings the right kind of Sixth Schedule to the region the same will be the stepping stone towards the Statehood for Darjeeling hills.

The recent Prashant phenomenon suddenly changed the socio-political matrix of Darjeeling hills. Not a single political party or personality (Except GNLF and Subash Ghising) could mobilise the members of civil society in Darjeeling Hills over the years as Prashant Phenomenon did. People in Darjeeling hills were so deeply involved and emotionally charged with the Prashant factor that a word against Prashant and his voice was enough to set fire to the emotions of general public. Everybody explicitly supported Prashant in Darjeeling-Sikkim and its neighbouring regions and sang his glory. However, Subash Ghishing kept tight-lipped all through the Indian Idol Programme. His silence through out the musical show and his non-utterance in support of the local boy gradually added fuel to the emotions of the general mass. Fortunately, Prashant emerged victorious in the grand finale. The civil society particularly in Darjeeling hills has united once again from its fragmentation and is tremendously disappointed with the attitude of Subash Ghising. Today, the socio-political environment has become exceedingly fragile in Darjeeling hills. Perhaps the tide may at anytime flow against the interest of Subash Ghising and his associates. In deed, the Prashant phenomenon has created a pan-Nepali sentiment across various linguistic groups of Nepali society within and outside India.

Not surprisingly, New Delhi timely smelled the uncongenial situation for Subash Ghising in Darjeeling hills and the gradual popular mobilisation against him. Consequently, the Government of India in connivance with West Bengal Government hurriedly called upon the cabinet meeting and approved the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling Hills on October 1, 2007. As intended by the New Delhi, the focus in Darjeeling hills suddenly again shifted from Prashant to Sixth Schedule and as wanted by the Centre and State Government Ghising has again been temporarily lucky. Why did the Centre play Sixth Schedule card at this very moment is one of the most pertinent questions that we need to seek answer for. By doing so the Government of India and West Bengal did two significant tasks for them. First, they temporarily saved Subash Ghishing from the onslaught of the general mass who otherwise is exasperated by his recent attitude. Secondly and more importantly, they understood the fact that if they do not play the Sixth Schedule card right now the future of their puppet boy was seemingly bleak and the already mobilised mass would not at any cost settle for Sixth Schedule provisions prepared by West Bengal. In short, the frightening demand by Darjeeling to the Government of West Bengal, a separate Statehood for the people of Darjeeling hills would crop up once again had the Government of India not played the game at the right time and both New Delhi and Calcutta did not want that to happen.

However, mention should be made here that there is still a sizeable chunk of people in Darjeeling hills including general public, intellectuals, and political leaders who are not happy with the toothless provisions under the Sixth Schedule and are striving towards the statehood.

http://beacononline.wordpress.com/about-contributors/mr-vimal-khawas/

Why we are not satisfied with the present DGHC?

The issue can be debated at two levels.

Structural Factors

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council as a unit of development made especially for the socio economic advancement of the hill people of Darjeeling district has a structure of a federated unit within a larger federation. Its composition is to a large extent similar to that of the states within the Indian union. The state government of West Bengal acts as central federation. As far as the structure is concerned it has all the characters of a state. However, with regard to the powers and functions it is subject to the approval and ratification by the government in almost all the matters. The examination of its powers and functions highlights its position not much ahead of the zilla parishad. Besides, there are important party political uncertainties and dependencies that compromise the power of the council.

Although as an agent of development it enjoys freedom to prepare development plans and budgets for the hill areas all the laws and by laws in this regard passed by the Council cannot be implemented unless approved by the government. It is also that they have to be drawn at par with the priorities and broad principals envisaged in national and state five year plans. Thus, the reality is that the centre or state can always reject or force reformulation of Councils priorities, plans and programmes. Funds still flow through the state government including the central fund. Often the late release of funds by the state makes it impossible for the council administration to carry out the programmes.

DGHC, moreover, has not been created under the statute of the parliament. It has been created under the state legislature possibly to prevent the uncontrollable agitation and violence, thereby, in the Darjeeling hills. It is therefore a political creation rather than a Constitutional one. No part of the Indian Constitution was amended in this regard and hence the Indian Constitution does not talk of the existence of DGHC in any part within the territory of India.

Functional Factors

DGHC in the two decades has been unable to prepare integrated development plans for the hill areas. The development plans prepared so far over the years are Sectoral and hence lopsided in nature. Sectors to gain major emphasis so far include road construction, tourism and primary education. Sadly, all the attempts in this regard have been a massive failure. Unscientific and unplanned construction of roads in this ecologically fragile region has led to increased landslides and soil seep over the years. Development of strategic and eco-friendly tourism has been far from appreciation. Primary education has suffered lot due to local party politics. To give a classic example in this regard – in the year 1995 DGHC with the approval of government conducted interviews for the appointments of primary teachers within the hill areas of Darjeeling. Till date the appointment has not been completed. No one knows the total number of vacancies to be filled. Examination at the micro-level highlights the fact that a bribe of approximately one lac is being demanded for each post by the authority empowered for the purpose.

While DGHC was formed to address the geographical differences (in terms of social, economic, political, cultural and historical geography) assuming congruence of location and community other minor differences which are, in fact, the most important and often unrecognized as communities like occupation, age, gender, class are barely or not at all addressed.

It is also that the spatial division of the district into hills (DGHC) and plains (Siliguri dub-division) has negatively impacted the hill economy. Siliguri since history has been serving as an economic hub in the region and thus as a major trading and commercial centre it not only influences the hill economy of Darjeeling district but also plays an important role as a commercial linkage between Northeast India and mainland and between Nepal/Bhutan and India. Hence, excluding Siliguri away from the functional jurisdiction of DGHC would adversely impact the long-term development process in the Darjeeling hill region.

In addition the presence of two administrative and planning units in Darjeeling has been creating more of confusions rather than scientific and efficient development in the region. Each unit assumes that it is superior with more power to the other thus pushing efficient planning and development to the back seat. Therefore, conflicts lack of cooperation, unnecessary interventions on each other’s business and most importantly superiority complex between the district collectorate and DGHC are the forces that have been seriously hindering the advancement of this backward tract even today. The main sufferers in this situation are the development units below the district, i.e. Municipalities, Blocks and Villages that work under the direction and guidance of DGHC and district collectorate. In a way it is the general mass that are suffering, ‘yet again’.

The executive powers with reference to primary, secondary and higher secondary education has been conferred in DGHC the powers related to secondary and higher secondary education still lies with the state government and thus DGHC has no say in this regard so far till date. This has led to appreciable conflicts between the state government and the council in recent times. The School Selection Commission of West Bengal in this regard provides an appropriate example. DGHC in the last may years has blocked all the appointments made by SSC in secondary and higher secondary institutions in the hill areas within its functional jurisdiction thus adversely impacting the education system in the region. Similarly, the other major conflict areas between the state and the DGH include forest, land and transportation.

Lastly, there is no agreement locally on the direction and kind of development that is deemed appropriate for Darjeeling Hills and is controlled by a handful local politicians. Hence, the much-hyped concept of local and community level participation and people empowerment are at the backseat. It should be remembered that DGHC was created in order to meet the demand of local community, for a stronger voice of the people in decision-making, planning and implementation of development objectives. DGHC has not been able to resolve these problems but rather exacerbated it. The villagers, farmers, and the weaker sections or to be more precise the general mass are largely kept away from the decision and thus the planning process and have no voice in the formal structure of the Council.

It we analyse the historical events that gradually led to the ethnic movement in Darjeeling Hills. Following points emerge-

The geopolitical situation in the District of Darjeeling had (have) never been stable. The district passed through a number of vulnerable positions and different events in history, each having a marked effect in the region and its people.

Moreover, the administrative history of the district clearly reveals that it was a non-regulated region even prior to the passing of the Indian Council Act, 1861 (Gurung, 1996). The district retained this status till 1874. The Laws Local Extent Act, 1874 made Darjeeling a Scheduled district, which remained so till 1919. The Act of 1919 declared Darjeeling as a backward tract. It remained so till 1935 when it ultimately became a partially excluded area under the Government of India Act, 1935 and remained in that conditions till the independence of India.

Thus, we can safely assert that, throughout the British rule the rulers on any occasion never allowed the district to come within the national mainstream and within the purview of the general administration. Despite the occasional opposition by the hill folks, the British government followed the policy of segregating the district from the administrative, legislative and judicial system of the rest of Bengal and India at length (Gurung, 1996). Slowly but steadily, dissatisfaction over such negligence of the authorities became pronounced with time.

As the people of Darjeeling hills were in minority and predominantly poor working mainly as labourers and army jawans the British Indian Government never took heed of their desires and demands. The treatment of the district of Darjeeling in a special way for years for various reasons directly or indirectly inculcated within the people of the district a sense that their ultimate security would rest in a separate administrative arrangement made especially for them.

Thus, we see, since immediately after the turn of the 19th century the manifestation of the dissatisfaction started coming in the form of memoranda seeking for the separate administrative set up and regional autonomy. The first of such memoranda came as early as in 1907 put forward by the “leaders of the hill men” of Darjeeling district. This was the starting point of the ethnic movement in the history of Darjeeling. Till the independence of India and even after the independence numerous memoranda were put forward to the authorities concerned demanding separate administrative unit, regional autonomy, separate state and even separate nation outside the territory of India, depending on the nature and ideology of the local political organizations. One of the most notable aspects in the long history of the ethnic movement in Darjeeling is that they were non violent till mid 1986.

The formal establishment of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in July 1980 under the leadership of Shri Subash Ghisingh led to the establishment of a more systematic demand for a separate statehood for the district of Darjeeling and the adjoining dooars areas of Jalpaiguri. The whole of the general mass residing in the hill areas along with the other subordinate organizations like Pranta Parishad and Swantantra Manch strongly supported this demand. The demand was for the first time invoked in 1980 under the strength of Article 31 of the Indian Constitution. It is important to borne in mind that till the mid to 1986 the movement was absolutely nonviolent. Violence was probably unavoidable when the state refused to understand the language of memoranda, plays, poetry and songs. The same was the case with respect to Assam, Mizoram, Meghalalya, Nagaland, and Manipur. The various ethnic movements in those places turned violent only after the people were pushed to the wall (Subba, 1992).

People died, women became widow, education suffered, economy declined, environment degraded and many such vices took their birth between the 27th July 1986 and 22nd August 1988. The movement for the separate state of Gorkhaland was withdrawn and the output that the people of Darjeeling hills got out of it was the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which still exists before us.

I have reproduced this from a comment made by you originally in this site previously at Jai Prithvinarayan Shah, Jai Gorkha, Jai Gorkhaland thread. I found your comment to be of great importance and relevance. Hence I have reproduced it here. I would also like to feature you on the site, could you please, then send me your photo and a brief introduction to you and your work?

Regs
Barun Roy