Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to visit Darjeeling on Monday, will attend GTA meeting

Kolkata, 10 November (HS). West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is going on a two-day visit to Darjeeling on Monday at the beginning of the coming week. During this visit, apart from the administrative meeting, she will also inaugurate 'Saras Mela' at Chowrasta in Darjeeling. According to a secretariat official, Mamata Banerjee will reach Darjeeling on Monday night and will hold an administrative meeting with the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) at 3:30 pm on Tuesday. After this, he has a program to inaugurate the Saras Fair in Darjeeling at 3 pm on Wednesday. The Chief Minister will return to Siliguri on Thursday and reach Kolkata on Friday to attend another program.

There is no announced political program during this visit of the Chief Minister. According to the official, the Chief Minister is going to Darjeeling only for the purpose of administrative meeting and inauguration of Saras Fair.

The GTA is currently ruled by Anit Thapa's party Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha and has good relations with the state's ruling Trinamool Congress. The state government is supporting the GTA at various levels and several development projects are being considered. Last year, the Chief Minister had also shared a plan to develop the hill as an IT hub, work on which has already started.

According to the district administration, work is underway to convert a multi-storey car parking into an IT center at Kurseong in Darjeeling and land has also been identified for an IT center at Gorubathan in Kalimpong. On the other hand, elections of three municipalities of Darjeeling region are pending and a PIL in this regard has also been filed in the High Court. The High Court had directed the state to take a decision on this in about one and a half months and preparations for the elections have also started. These topics are likely to be discussed during the Chief Minister's visit.

This year, due to the efforts of the Chief Minister, Saras Fair is being organized in Darjeeling for the first time. The Panchayat Department of the state is organizing this fair. Generally this fair is held in New Town of Kolkata and for the people of North Bengal it is also organized in Siliguri, but this time it is being held in Darjeeling city.

After this visit of the Chief Minister, a function will be organized in Rajarhat on Friday to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda. On this occasion, the Chief Minister will also participate in the celebrations of Birsa Munda Day organized at Adivasi Bhawan. This year the state government has decided to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda in all the districts from 15 to 21 November.