PLEASE ACCEPT OUR HONORABLE CM SPEECH ......................... AND SUPPORT IT .................. Mamata Banerjee A tri-partite Memorandum of Agreement amongst the Central Government, the State Government and the GJMM created GTA on 18th July, 2011. Accordingly, election was held and GTA Sabha swore in on 3rd August, 2012. Breaking almost 20 years of non-development of the Hills, a new era of ushering peace and development in Darjeeling began. As per the Agreement, transfer of administrative power, functions of various departments and allocation of fund were made to facilitate GTA to function smoothly and effectively for welfare of the people of the Hills. I respect all my Darjeeling brothers and sisters. I am proud of them. But it is very unfortunate that instead of developmental works, that political party has resorted to agitational programme stalling the development process. My Government is fully committed to deliver services to the people of the Hills. Then why these agitational programmes every six months? Why this “political pollution”? As a result of it, development is suffering, people are suffering, Darjeeling is suffering. Politics is fine. But it should facilitate development, not impede it. The political mandate is there. It should be used for the benefit of the people of Darjeeling. It should not harm them. The ongoing political gimmickry is harming everybody. From the poor people deprived of NREGA entitlements, to the poor patients unable to buy medicines at a discount from the Fair Price Shop, to the innumerable students forced to forsake their studies and hostels, to the jobseekers in the PSC & SSC – not to speak of the thousands engaged in tea, tourism and travel, industries – all are badly affected. Some of the damage may be irreversible. Students may lose a year. NREGA funds may lapse. Tea exports from the Hill may fall and be possibly replaced by tea from other countries. Who is to be blamed? My intention is to make Darjeeling a dream destination, which will bring growth and prosperity for the people of Darjeeling. Like Jangalmahal, I have visited Darjeeling more than 20 times. I will be visiting Darjeeling again during the first week of September. The Lepcha brothers and sisters have invited me to attend a programme. We want to see all-round development in all spheres like education, health, employment, industries in Darjeeling. We want to see Darjeeling as a peaceful haven so that its future is settled forever.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 18:35:04 +0000