CM announces Rs 271-cr investment package for Darjeeling, Kalimpong: ‘Will do whatever to see people of hills smile and be at peace’

The chief minister announced the setting up of two industrial hubs in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts and added that her government would help bring IT industries to the hills to facilitate the employment of local youth.
She also announced that about 33,000 people in the hill districts would get the social security benefits of the state government.

“I want you all to be at peace and happy. The young men and women of the hills should prosper. Education should prosper in the hills. This is what I want. Delhi (the Central government) does not do any work. I do it and I will do it,” she said and announced compensation of Rs 70,000 to each of the 550 families affected by the recent floods.

“I can give my life for the hill. I want the people of the hills to be happy, peaceful, and united. I will do whatever I can to improve the hill districts. Many people come and talk big and spoil the peaceful atmosphere of the hill region. They do nothing,” she added.

Pointing to GTA chairperson Anit Thapa, TMC leader Shanta Chhetri, Kalimpong MLA Ruden Sada Lepcha, and their team, Banerjee told people to keep their faith in them.

Distributing land pattas to 23,000 families in Darjeeling district and 1,200 families in Kalimpong district, the chief minister said the state government has already started the survey for the houses of tea workers. “Very soon, they will get the patta of that land,” she said, adding that her government has set a target of building three lakh tea workers in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts under the Cha Sundari scheme.

She later unveiled statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das at Darjeeling Mall.

The chief minister is on a six-day visit to the northern districts of the state. On Thursday, she visited a tea estate and plucked leaves along with workers besides talking to them. She also sang a few lines with the workers and shook a leg with them.

Later, Banerjee went to a community hall here to bless her nephew Abesh Banerjee who tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend at a ceremony there.