KalimNews, February 19, 2025 : Anit Thapa, the Chief Executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), met Pradip Kumar Mazumdar, the Hon’ble Minister-in-Charge of Panchayats and Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal, at Salt Lake, Kolkata, today. During the meeting, Thapa submitted a memorandum demanding the implementation and establishment of Zilla Parishad in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, where only a two-tier Panchayat system is currently in place.
Since the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988, Zilla Parishad was abolished for the Darjeeling district. According to the DGHC Act of 1988, the DGHC was supposed to function as a Zilla Parishad. As per Section 31 of the DGHC Act, it states, ” (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 or the Bengal Municipal Act, 1932, the General Council shall exercise general powers of supervision over Panchayat Samitis, Gram Panchayats, and municipalities in the hill areas, and it shall be the duty of every such Panchayat Samiti, Gram Panchayat or municipality to give effect to any direction of the General Council on matters of policy or planning for development.” Additionally, ” (2) The General Council shall exercise all the powers of the Zilla Parishad under sections 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161 and 162 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973.”
During the formation of the DGHC, the Siliguri Mahkuma Parishad was excluded from its purview, and as a result, it functioned as a Mahkuma Parishad without a Zilla Parishad since then.
Thapa’s memorandum highlights the fact that Kalimpong district, created in 2017, also requires a functioning Zilla Parishad to ensure effective governance and development in the region.
In his letter, Thapa emphasized that the absence of a Zilla Parishad in these districts has created a significant gap in democratic representation. He urged the government to take immediate steps for the establishment and implementation of the Zilla Parishad. Specifically, he has requested the following measures: to issue a notification announcing the creation of two separate Zilla Parishads for Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, ensure the necessary infrastructure and personnel are in place to support the Zilla Parishad’s functioning, and conduct elections to the Zilla Parishad at the earliest to provide the people with a representative voice in decision-making.
Thapa further stressed that he has been engaging with various departmental ministers regarding the administrative challenges faced by the GTA and the areas under its jurisdiction.
Presently, only the two-tier Panchayat system exists in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, both part of the GTA region.
The DGHC, though similar to a Zilla Parishad, was a “glorified Panchayat with additional powers” that lacked certain functions of a standard Zilla Parishad. Legal experts pointed out that the DGHC was effectively an extended version of a Zilla Parishad but with more departments under control. However, its territorial area was limited, and after the formation of the GTA in 2011, the official end of the DGHC led to a return to the earlier three-tier Panchayat system in Darjeeling.
The Constitution of India was amended in 1992 at the request of Subash Ghisingh, the then Chairman of the DGHC, to implement a two-tier system in Darjeeling, which did not include the Zilla Parishad. “Article 243- M : Nothing in this Part (a) related to panchayats at the district level shall apply to the hill areas of the District of Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal for which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under any law for the time being in force,”
Section 34 of the GTA Act elaborates on the administrative powers of the GTA, stating, “Notwithstanding the provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 or the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration shall exercise general powers of supervision over Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samities, Gram Panchayats, and municipalities in the region constituted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India, and it shall be the duty of every such Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti, Gram Panchayat or municipality to give effect to any direction of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration on matters of policy or planning for development.” The Act further notes that the GTA shall, until a Zilla Parishad is constituted, exercise all the powers of the Zilla Parishad under sections 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161 and 162 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973.
It is also significant that the GTA region has only had a two-tier Panchayat system consisting of the Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti elections, unlike the rest of Bengal, which has a three-tier structure, with Zilla Parishad at the uppermost level.
As per legal experts, “GTA cannot work as a third tier like DGHC with the continuation of the two-tier Panchayat, unless the Constitution is further amended to give GTA the same status.”
However, following the formation of the Mamata Banerjee government, efforts were made in 2012 to amend the Constitution and reinstate the three-tier Panchayat system for the GTA area. After extensive discussions, the Centre at that time had requested the state to send a draft of the proposed constitutional amendment to facilitate the formation of a Zilla Parishad in the GTA region.
The need for another constitutional amendment to revert to a three-tier Panchayat system in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts is now pressing. The legal landscape and constitutional amendments required for these changes remain a crucial issue for the future of local governance in the GTA area.
