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National

Strike paralyses Darjeeling

Marcus Dam

KOLKATA: Life in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal was severely affected following a 12-hour strike called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) on Friday demanding the regularisation of ad hoc workers of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

This was preceded by agitators laying siege for several hours on Thursday the office of the District Magistrate in Darjeeling and of Pintail Village in the outskirts of Siliguri where the DGHC administrator was present.

The decision to call a strike was announced by the GJM leadership late on Thursday night even as the siege was on, taking many by surprise.

Tourists stranded

Tourists were left stranded. Educational institutions and tea gardens, however, were exempted.

GJM president, Bimal Gurung, has also demanded the resignations of the District Magistrate and the DGHC administrator for having failed to keep their word about making permanent the 3000-odd DGHC workers engaged on contract basis, by November 17.

The striking ad hoc workers belong to the GJM sponsored Janamukti Asthahi Karmchari Sangathan (JAKS).

Transport was off the roads, offices of both the Central and State governments closed, as were commercial establishments. JAKS activists set up road-blocks at various points on the NH 31 A and NH 55 . Vehicular movement to and from Sikkim was also severely disrupted.

There was no report of any untoward incident, the State’s Home Secretary, Ardhendu Sen, said here.

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