Jhargram (WB): Civil society members here
have sent a memorandum to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee demanding the setting up of an autonomous council
comprising 14 Assembly segments of Jangalmahal to curb the
Naxal menace in the districts, officials said on Sunday.
The memorandum, seeking the creation of a body on the
lines of the Gorkha Hill Council in Darjeeling, was submitted
following a discussion between civil society members and
Jharkhand Andolan Samnay Mancha.
According to officials, the five-party meet, convened by
Jharkhand Anusilan Party, members of Bandi Mukti Committee
and Nagarik Samaj (both NGOs), took place at Raghunathpur near
here on Friday.
The memorandum sent to Banerjee demanded the setting up
of an autonomous council comprising 14 Assembly segments of
the three Jangalmahal districts---West Midnapore, Bankura and
Purulia-- along the lines of the Gorkha Hill Council in
Darjeeling, said Jharkhand Anusilan Party general secretary
Asit Khatua.
The memorandum also demands the council be named
Jharkhand Valley Development Council or Jangalmahal Unnayan
Parishad, he said.
The council was demanded as the Jharkhand Unnayan
Parishad and later Paschimanchal Unnayan Parishad set up by
the erstwhile Left Front government had failed to meet the
aspirations of the people.
The other demands include providing 35 kg rice per month
at Rs 2 per kg to each BPL family, increasing daily wages to
Rs 200 and allowing the use of Kangsabati canal for irrigating
the area, said Khatua.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, July 24, 2011, 13:05