She made the announcement at a programme to commemorate the 202nd Birth Anniversary of poet Bhanubhakta Acharya in Darjeeling on Wednesday. President Pranab Mukherjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi were also present at the programme.
The President welcomed the various initiatives taken by the state government for development of the hills. He said: “Various schemes and projects were launched to benefit every strata of society.” Thanking the President for attending the programme, Banerjee said: “We are proud that President Pranab Mukherjee attended the programme despite his busy schedule.”
Banerjee maintained: “Separate development boards for Kami, Sarki and Damai will be formed for an overall development of the hills. New projects will be taken up and implemented in a time-bound manner.” “There are many other development boards that look into the welfare of the Lephcha, Bhutia and Sherpa communities . The work of the existing boards will be reviewed from time to time,” the CM said.
On administrative review meetings both at the state and districts level, Banerjee said that review meetings ensured proper execution of projects. She also announced that an educational hub would come up in Kurseong.
She further said that she had held a meeting with the senior representatives of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
Bimal Gurung, Chief Executive of GTA later, said that the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. “Chief Minister said that there will be a bipartite meeting on various issues,” he added.