Civic body to rename hall in Kurseong after GNLF founder

Darjeeling: Putting a recent controversy to rest, the Kurseong Municipality has decided to rename the Kurseong Municipality Community Hall as Subash Ghising Memorial Community Hall.

"An emergent meeting of the Municipality board decided that we will rename the hall as Subash Ghising Memorial Community Hall at the earliest. A signage to this effect will also be put up," stated Subash Pradhan, vice-chairman of the Kurseong Municipality.

He stated that the Municipality had written two letters to the PWD on June 28 and July 3 seeking clarity about the name. "On July 3, we received a letter from the PWD stating that the Chief Minister had proposed the name of the community hall after the late Subash Ghising. We then decided to rename it after Subash Ghising," stated the vice-chairman.

Incidentally on June 25, the community hall, located on Dow Hill road in Kurseong, had opened its doors as Kurseong Municipality Community Hall. This had sparked controversy with the Trinamool Congress and the Gorkha National Liberation Front objecting to the name.

The political outfits protested stating that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had proposed the construction of the community hall in memory of founder of GNLF party late Subash Ghising. The North Bengal Development Department had sanctioned Rs. 2.92 crore and the PWD had constructed the Hall. Later, it was handed over to Kurseong Municipality for running it and upkeep.