The disaster in the Darjeeling hills has forced the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to convene its Sabha, which had rarely met in the past three years.
Sources said the GTA Sabha would meet on Tuesday at the Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan here.
“The emergent meeting of the GTA Sabha has ben scheduled to discuss the issues pertaining to the damages and loss of lives and properties in the GTA areas caused by the heavy rainfall…”, a notice issued by the GTA reads.
In the past, the GTA had come under criticism for allegedly violating the provisions of the GTA Act by failing to convene regular Sabha sessions.
Ajoy Lucas Edwards, an elected GTA Sabha member from the Darjeeling Sadar 3 constituency, has been repeatedly demanding a Sabha meeting and has accused the administration of sidelining democratic norms and rendering the GTA Sabha defunct.
Edwards currently heads the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front, whose members sit on the Opposition bench. The GTA Sabha has six Opposition members in the House of 45.
Edwards has pointed out that only three general and one emergency GTA Sabha sessions have been held since the start of the current GTA tenure in 2022.
According to the GTA Act, the Sabha has to be convened once in three months.
“Your continued failure to convene the Sabha has effectively shut down the only platform available to elected Sabhasads to deliberate on public grievances, policies, and developmental concerns of the region,” Edwards had earlier written to the GTA, calling the prolonged inaction a “blatant disregard of the GTA Act”.
According to Edwards, the last Sabha session, held in October 2024, had resolved to constitute a high-powered committee to examine issues related to transferred subjects and strengthening administrative autonomy.
However, Edwards noted that the committee, formed in March 2025 after a five-month delay, had since “disappeared into oblivion,” with no updates or accountability, highlighting the need to hold regular meetings as prescribed in the Act.
A few days after the disaster, Edwards had written to the GTA principal secretary on October 8, requesting an emergency meeting of the Sabha. Edwards had said the meeting was necessary to assess the present situation and coordinate relief and rehabilitation measures with the participation of all elected representatives.