NGOs unite for hill welfare

Darjeeling, May 25: Eager to expedite the development process in the Darjeeling hills, social organisations have joined hands to prepare a baseline document on core social issues.

Twenty non-government organisations have come together on a common platform, christened Darjeeling NGO Network, which today organised a seminar, `Participatory Development Process in the Darjeeling Hills`, to prepare a set of guidelines titled `Darjeeling Initiative`.

The seminar was organised as part of the `The Darjeeling Celebrations`. Issues like panchayat raj and rural credit and their links with development of Darjeeling were taken up for discussion.

Pasang Lepcha, member of one of the participating NGOs, Darjeeling Ladenla Road Prerna, said though the 73rd Constitutional amendment on devolution of powers to local self-governing bodies has reversed the trend of centralisation, it wasn't the case with the Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council.
`One has to note that devolution of power for panchayati raj institutions within the council is on a single-tier basis. The DGHC handles development schemes and the district administration takes care of institutional aspects. This is a complex working system which expands the administrative activities of programmes, increasing the official processing time and bureaucratic hurdles,` said Lepcha.

The participants said the immediate challenge was to work for the common good of the people. Pravat Rana, convener, NGO Network, said: `At times, we see that various organisations overlap with one another and thus the need to come on a common platform with district officials.`

The participants said lack of ownership of assets in the Darjeeling hills was a major impediment for development in rural areas. `More than 40 per cent of the land is under forests and more than two per cent is under tea plantation. In both cases, the ownership of land and resources is not with the community. The participation of the tea gardens and forest villagers in the panchayati raj institution is limited as they do not own the land and its resources,` said Lepcha.

Courtesy
The Telegraph

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