Darjeeling: An awareness and interactive programme on ‘land’, ‘census’ and Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls brought community leaders, activists and citizens together at the Ex-Servicemen Bhawan in Mirik on Sunday.
The event was jointly organised by Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (a pan Indian Gorkha welfare organisation) and Bharatiya Gorkha Jan Awaaz under the chairmanship of senior citizen L.B. Dewan.
Retired deputy director of the Indian Census department, Mohan Kumar Labar, stressed the importance of accurate census data for political, social and regional development. “Accurate facts about the population of caste, scheduled caste, tribe, mother tongue, region are collected through census. On the basis of this development programmes are prepared. Hence census is very important for the Darjeeling region.”
He further urged all to take out time and seriously take part in the exercise, providing accurate information. Labar further said that the government can schedule the census anytime. “Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies are carried out on the basis of population and demography obtained through census” added Labar. He appealed to the Indian Gorkha community to write their mother tongue as Nepali and caste as Gorkha in the census.
Speaker Thendup Sherpa questioned as to why the earlier Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and now the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) have failed to utilise their rights to land distribution despite this power and function being a part of the earlier DGHC Act and now the GTA. “We have written to the State Government regarding this. If there is no reply we will file an RTI. If that too fails to evoke a response, we will seek legal recourse,” stated Sherpa.
Jeevan Bhandari cautioned about declining official counts of Nepali speakers across India. Environmentalist Bharat Prakash Rai called for unity to safeguard the Gorkha community and the Darjeeling hills. Labour rights, ethnic identity and land issues were also raised by speakers. Mirik area convener Jeevan Kumar Rai hailed the programme as a first-of-its-kind effort in the town. Representatives of various organisations and civil society groups participated in the event.