Date:22/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/22/stories/2008012255091300.htm

New Delhi

All-party team’s plea on Gorkha Hill Council

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: An all-party delegation from West Bengal met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Monday to demand inclusion of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution expeditiously.

The delegation , led by Hill Minister Ashok Bhattacharya, sought early passage of the related Bill so that a new DGHC was constituted.

The Bill was placed in Parliament during the last winter session with an appeal to the Speaker to hold a discussion and get it passed in the House directly without sending it to the Standing Committee.

But on the advice of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, it was sent to the Standing Committee for its report.

Early intervention

In the memorandum, the delegation sought Mr. Patil’s intervention for early submission of the report of the Standing Committee headed by senior BJP MP Sushma Swaraj. The delegation, which met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Kolkata on Sunday, discussed the matter with members of the Standing Committee examining the Bill.