Darjeeling, Sept. 22 -- Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday assured residents of North Bengal that the BJP government would address long-standing issues concerning tea garden workers, development of the hills under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and the demand for Kamtapur.

Addressing a gathering in Alipurduar, Adhikari said Rs 313 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Yojna had been approved by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries. "This scheme was announced in 2021. While Assam took the benefits of the scheme, West Bengal was left out as the previous government did not constitute a committee. After coming to power, we decided to implement it. We sent a proposal to the concerned Union ministry last Thursday. Today I was informed by Minister Piyush Goyal's office that it has been approved," he said.

Adhikari also said the government would reopen all closed tea gardens in North Bengal. "We have also arranged for 20% bonus for tea garden workers. Unused land in tea gardens will be transferred to the workers and land documents handed over to them (patta)," he said.

Meanwhile, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung met Adhikari at Chalsa in Jalpaiguri and invited him to attend the GJM's foundation day celebrations in Darjeeling on October 7.

"I wish to attend if I don't go out of the State to attend any national programme," Adhikari said, adding that Gurung had thanked him for fund allocations to the GTA and approval of around 465 projects.

Adhikari said the previous government had spent Rs 6 crore on the GTA in the last financial year, while Rs 360 crore had been allocated to it this year, of which Rs 63 crore had already been released. "I have also allotted Rs 250 crore to the GTA from the Disaster Management fund," he added.

In Cooch Behar, asked about the revival of the separate Kamtapur state demand, Adhikari said people had the democratic right to raise such demands. He pointed out that three elected representatives, including Assembly Speaker and ministers Nisith Pramanik and Malati Rava Roy, were from Cooch Behar and suggested that the agitators approach them. "If they want to hold dialogues with me, they can come to Kolkata or meet me at Uttarkanya, the secretariat in North Bengal. However, if they insist that talks should be held in Cooch Behar, I will come here for talks," Adhikari said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.