The Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has set a June 4 deadline for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to come up with concrete steps to address the Morcha's allegations of corruption in the hill body.
Roshan Giri, the Morcha general secretary, said: “On Tuesday, we met officials of the GTA and had a detailed discussion on various schemes of the GTA. We have set a June 4 deadline for the GTA to take concrete steps on this issue.”
The Morcha leader said if they failed to get a “satisfactory” response from the GTA on steps taken to address corruption charges, the party would decide on a new course of action.
“We will visit Lal Khoti (the GTA headquarters) on June 4,” said Giri.
The Morcha, whose youth leader Noman Rai won the Darjeeling Assembly seat on a BJP ticket, alleged corruption in the GTA's schemes under the public delivery system, drinking water in civic and rural areas, and teacher recruitment, among others.
“We have details of some huge payments being made to some favoured people. We will disclose details later,” said Giri.
The GTA is currently headed by Anit Thapa, the president of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, the hill ally of the Trinamool Congress.
Thapa had earlier responded that the workings of the GTA should be investigated since 2012. Gurung helmed the GTA from 2012 to 2017.
To this, Giri said they were open to an inquiry and added that the state government had conducted a special audit in 2017 and "found nothing amiss".
The Morcha apart, the Ajoy Edwards-led Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front raised similar concerns not just in the GTA but also in the Darjeeling municipality.
Suvendu Adhikari, during his first visit to north Bengal as the chief minister earlier this month, had raised the issue of "corruption" in the GTA and Darjeeling hills and promised punitive action against the “thieves".
The Morcha leadership said it would raise the corruption issue during its meeting with the chief minister. A Morcha delegation was scheduled to meet Suvendu in Calcutta on Monday, but it was cancelled on Sunday night. A fresh date has not been given yet to the Morcha.