Mukesh sharma

Kalimpong, March 02:

The CPM leader, Tara Sundas has demanded reopening of the Eastern Ranger College situated at Kurseong, which has been non-functioning since a long time. Sundas met with the General Manager of West Bengal Forest Development Corporation, CG Lepcha at Siliguri demanding the same. Along with it he has also demanded various other demands in the memorandum submitted to the GM.

Sundas while speaking to the reporters today informed that there are only two Ranger Colleges in the country i.e. at Kurseong and Dehradun. Such colleges are getting established at other places too, he added.

Reciprocating to Sundas’s demands, the GM informed that the concerned department used to issue admission notices to the students before, however, the management of the college has been overtaken by the state government. Sundas saying that the CPM has been working over this issue insisted that the Trinamool government should also look into this matter.

Further, the CPM leader notified that 13 days Crash Course was conducted at Coochbehar for the unemployed of the area on how to handle the situation when wild animals enter the human civilization areas. In this context he asked the GM why such courses have not been conducted in the hills. To this, the GM said that he will ask the Wildlife Department and then let Sundas know about it. The CPM leader also demanded that the people living in 12 ranges and 29 forests in the hills should be provided with land Parchas and Pattas. Mentioning that in the plain areas the people who fall victim to wild animal attacks are granted financial aides, Sundas also demanded the same for the victims in the hills. The GM replied that there are financial grants to those who fall prey to elephants, tigers and rhinos. But in the hills there are more cases of attacks by cheetahs, bears and monkeys, therefore the government has demanded grants for such accident victims to be included under the laws.

Sundas also demanded that the pension amounts for the retired officials of the Corporation and asked the MLAs to demand at the Legislative Assembly to include the Corporation with the Directorate. He also demanded that the renovation of the entire tourist spots which comes under the forest areas.

Sundas alleged the state government of diluting the identity of the Forest Corporation and appealed all the political parties, organizations and associations to come forward and look into the matter.