HARD TIMES FOR OUT-OF-WORK TEA WORKERS
Thousands of labourers of tea gardens in the region that have been closed down are struggling to make ends meet. Their families are starving and gastro cases are on the rise. Talks between the tea management and the Government have entered a stalemate over the past few months.

Families of workers of the Rahimabad Tea Estate are now forced to eat wild roots for survival. The tea estate has been locked for 59 days now. Some labourers collect stones from the river to make a living while others have turned to begging. Several women have been forced to join the flesh trade to earn money. Is the West Bengal State Government not a guardian to its people? Well, what is the state government doing to save its children? The monsoons have worsened their condition with water-logging near the settlements. Disease of the liver and spleen have also been reported.

The Government hospital nearby is facing an acute shortage of medicines. Staff members say the hospital would have to be closed down due to lack of medicine and other facilities. The labourers, however, have nowhere else to go. Former Minister Manohar Tirki had arranged for some medicines but the supply ran out. Tirki expressed concern that crime in the region was bound to rise as thousands of labourers have lost their jobs and have no means of livelihood. He further said tea gardens along the Assam border might be targeted by militant groups by luring labourers for money. If such a thing happens then the Government will point to them as anti-nationals and gun them down, but who is responsible for making them compelled to be anti-nationals - its the Government itself responsible for not taking appropriate measures during the time of hardship.

ROGUE ELEPHANT SHOT DEAD
The rogue elephant, which killed 13 people since Saturday afternoon and was hiding in the Bawanpokhari Forest under Kurseong subdivision was shot dead yesterday by retired Army officer and sharpshotter Major A Chowan. He was assisted by forest officials. Raju Das, DFO, said, it took four shots to kill the elephant. Major A Chowan fired one shot from his .375 Magnum Rifle. The other three shots were fired by forest officials. Before this, the rouge corssed over the Mechi and Balasan rivers at 3 am, entered the busty and crushed Biswakarma under its feet.

The beast, which got separated from its heard, killed seven people, including one SSB staff and one forest worker at Tukra busty near the Indo-Nepal border on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, it killed an elderly couple in their sleep at Chenga Busty 3 km away from Tukra. It crossed over to Nepal day before and killed three more people. The Forest Department engaged Major A Chowan and four trained elephants to track down and kill the animal. Wild rumours about its whereabouts only compounded the problem. Many villagers for instance, were convinced that the elephant was eating human flesh. Forest officials laughed away. But the animal's behaviour was causing a lot of speculation among forest officials. S Patel, Conservator of Forest, said the beast was killing people with a purpose. IG of Police Bhupinder Singh said only a post mortem would help ascertain what exactly had gone wrong with it.

BID TO PREVENT BREACH IN SECURITY RING
Darjeeling Police have stepped up security in the Hills following the ISI threat at Writer's Buildings, but they fear a security lapse and Intelligence breach owing to the state of telephones in Darjeeling. Most State and Central Intelligence departments have a station in Darjeeling because of its strategic location and with no dedicated communication channels or lins, telephones are the only source of communication for these agencies. Cross-connection have become common in Darjeeling and this has become a cause for the security agencies.

Hotel owners have been asked to keep detailed record of all guests, especially foreigners. Plainclothes policemen have been posted all over the town and mobile patrolling has been intensified. The police are conducting surprise checks and people are being interrogated at the slightest suspicion. Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee recently said that since the ISI is active in Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, it is not difficult for them to sneak into Bengal from North Bengal and Bihar. The Border Security Force has intensified patrolling and is maintaining a tight check at all sensitive zones, mustering extra forces from other battalions for immediate deployment at all strategic locations and borders.

DARJEELING CONGRESS MEET ON POVERTY
The Darjeeling Congress submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate drawing his attention to various problems related to poverty and backwardness in the Hills. Mr Dawa Norbulla, president, DCC, said party representatives had discussed the situation with the DM. The party has asked for the list of beneficiaries under the government's financial assistance schemes for the handicapped and the aged. It also urged the district authorities to increase the number of recipients in the Hills. Mr Norbulla said the party also demanded that immediate arrangements be made for issuing new ration cards in the hills. The process has been stopped for about two years now causing great inconvenience to the people, the party pointed out.

Immediate appointments of Grade 'C' staff in the Land Reforms Office was also raised. Candidates in the paned are yet to receive their appointments even months after their final interview, Mr Norbulla said. The party also sought intervention of the authorities in the Ramam Hydel power project where the construction of a new tunnel is yet to take place despite agreement with a firm, Asian Technical Ltd. Other demands raised by the party included elections to two tier panchayat in the DGHC area, appointment of SSC selected candidates by the state government and a probe into the corruption of the mid-day meal system.

NEW CHAIRMAN FOR DARJEELING MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
The Municipal councillor of ward no 31, Passang Tshering Bhutia, was today unanimously elected the chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality. Municipal councillor Gopal Sundas presided over the election proceedings. The election had become necessary after Mr DK Pradhan, MLA and former Chairman of te Darjeeling Municipality quit the posts on June 5 following a rift in the GNLF. Prior to this he had resigned from the primary membership of the GNLF on June1.

Thirty one out of the total 32 members were present with Pradhan staying away from recent election. Passang's name was proposed by the municipal councillor of ward no. 5, Indramani Rai, and seconded by municipal councillor of ward no. 8, Lalit Tamang. Passang was later administered the oath of office and secrecy by the deputy magistrate, DK Sharma. To the executive officer's proposal that the new municipal chairman should decided the chairman's council Passang said he would do so soon.