The state government has decided to develop several rural craft and cultural hubs for the hill communities and for the Rajbanshi community of north Bengal for which the state had earlier constituted development boards.

The decision is being seen as a new move by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to woo these communities ahead of the Assembly polls.

After Mamata came to power, she made development boards for 15 different hill communities. Similar boards have been formed for minorities in the hills, for Rajbanshis in the plains and for tribals and Gorkhas living in the foothills.

Also, two language academies have been formed for the Rajbanshi community.

“All those communities for which development boards were formed will get the benefit of the proposed rural craft and cultural hubs. For each hub, a sum of Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore will be spent. In these hubs, cultural heritage, garments, musical instruments, art and craft items would be displayed. Members of the community can also use these hubs to sell handicraft and ethnic cuisine. The hubs will also serve as centres for cultural practices and research of these communities,” said Satyakam Gurung, the district officer of West Bengal Khadi & Village Industries Board in Jalpaiguri. According to him, the state has assigned the board to develop the hubs to come up in various areas of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts.

Parthasarathi Bhattacharya, officer of West Bengal Khadi & Village Industries Board for Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, said they were facing problems over land.

“In the hills, whatever land the boards has with them is tribal land. That is why we are facing some problem in identifying land for the hubs. We have referred the issue to the state government and hope it will be resolved soon,” he said.

According to political observers, the decision indicates that Mamata wants to reach out to these communities for support, particularly as other political forces are also trying to woo the hill population by raising demands before central and state governments.

Recently, Morcha leaders Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa sent letters to the Prime Minister and chief minister, seeking Scheduled Tribe status for 11 hill communities and permanent jobs of contract workers in the GTA, respectively.

The BJP-run Assam state government has also approved formation of Kamtapur Autonomous Council for the Rajbanshis.

Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, is also consistently trying to get the ST status for the hill communities from the Centre.

“Some kind of a competition has ensued among the political parties in the hills and plains of north Bengal and Trinamul too, has become a part of it,” said an observer.