Nisha Chettri
Kalimpong August 3, 2015:

After staging their dharna for 109 days, the Lepcha para teachers finally packs up from triangular park today as they received a letter from the Secretary to the Government of West Bengal-School Education Department, assuring an interim arrangement to join Lepcha medium schools under the control of Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Board.

Speaking to the journalists here, Peter Lepcha-one among the 46 para teachers said that the West Bengal Government has solved their issue very wisely and their dharna didn’t go in vain, ‘Mamta government has successfully unlocked our problem of unemployment and we can now ignite the furnace in our kitchens’ said Lepcha adding that they don’t have to show empty vessels to anyone henceforth.

The GTA had filed a case in Calcutta High Court regarding the legality of state government’s move to appoint 46 para teachers across Darjeeling district on March 20th therefore, until Court’s verdict, the Lepchas are arranged to teach in different non-recognized Lepcha medium schools and Night schools run by MLDP.

The aforementioned assurance letter, has said that the remuneration of the said para teachers will be met from the end of Sarva Shiksha Mission and has the approval of Minister-in-charge of School education Department.

The salary of the para teachers can be drawn in the end of August as the teachers will be joining schools within a week, said a source through telephone this evening.

Meanwhile, Hill TMC called an urgent press conference to congratulate and appreciate the para-teacher’s patience of 109 days which didn’t go in vain, ‘the GTA should learn something from these para-teachers for they (GTA) never completes the task they start’ said Chawang Bhutia, a secretary of hill TMC, adding that the case of para teachers could have been easily settled within GTA, without knocking at the court’s door.


Later, Bhupendra Lepcha, the District youth president of TMC also spoke to the reporters citing the famous mantra ‘satyamev jayate’ ‘This interim settlement is more of a permanent settlement and the future of those 46 para teachers are no more in darkness’ said Bhupendra Lepcha.