Darjeeling: Even after three months of the formation of Gorka Territorial Administration (GTA), the Centre and the state government are yet to release funds to GTA, a senior Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader claimed here on Saturday.
"We are yet to get any funds for development from the Centre and West Bengal government. We were told that there are some difficulties in releasing funds. What those difficulties are we do not know. We are facing problem due to the delay," senior GJM leader and party MLA Harka Bahadur Chetri said.
"We can understand that the central government is not taking us seriously after the Centre-state relationship worsened following TMC`s withdrawal of support to UPA government. But they both had agreed on the treaty to give us the funds for the developmental projects," Chetri alleged.
According to sources in GTA, they were asked by the central government to submit the projects first for getting the funds.
A senior executive of GTA said "we have already submitted the detailed project reports (DPR) for ten projects worth Rs 180 crore. But the funds have not come yet and we are not able to start work."
GTA is supposed to receive Rs 200 crore per year as grant from the Centre, which is yet to take effect.
Chetri apprehended that the new equation between Delhi and Kolkata following TMC`s pull-out of support might affect the functioning of GTA.
GJM chief Bimal Gurung is the chief executive of GTA.
PTI
