Calcutta, June 30: After opposing the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council’s (DGHC) demand for recognition of the hill region under Schedule 6 of the Constitution, the government today appeared to be softening its stand on the issue.

New chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb said at Writers’ Buildings that if the Centre is willing to accord the Darjeeling hills special status under the Sixth Schedule, the state has no objection to it.

With state home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy, Deb will attend a meeting in Delhi tomorrow at which DGHC administrator Subash Ghisingh and the Union home secretary will also be present.

“We had proposed that more autonomy be offered to the DGHC by inserting a clause in Section 371 of the Constitution exclusively devoted to the three hill subdivisions. But Ghisingh is bent on special status under the Sixth Schedule, which is not possible unless the Centre agrees,” Deb said, adding that the state government wants elections to the hill council by September.

The GNLF chief has sought the inclusion of all hill communities under the Scheduled Tribes category to strengthen his demand for the Schedule 6 status. It would accord tribal status to the people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.

In his demand for special status for the DGHC, Ghisingh has brushed aside the elections as a secondary issue. “He has been hinting at an alternative to the council, with powers to control the transfer of government staff, including policemen,” a senior home department official said.

“The Schedule 6 status will only lead to another body within the government providing special benefits to tribals,” the official maintained.

Asok Bhattacharya, the urban development minister and CPM heavyweight in north Bengal, had earlier said that the Sixth Schedule was not a practical solution for the hills.

However, in his manoeuvrings since the hill body ended its term in March, Ghisingh has been demanding from Delhi that all Nepali-speaking people be declared tribals. Only the Tamangs, Limboos, Yolmos, Bhutias and Lepchas are now deemed tribes.

Ghisingh had cited a 1931 census carried out by the British in which all such people were accorded tribal status. Nepalis belonging to the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Baniya castes also need to be declared tribes, Ghisingh had thundered in rallies in Darjeeling.

Tomorrow’s will be the fourth meeting between the three parties in the past year. None yielded any result, despite the chief minister attending two. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been saying that the government will not do anything that might harm peace in the hills.

An official said: “Ghisingh knows that violence is not an option.”