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Simmer Time

Profitable Loss
36 With over 90,000 employees opting for the VRS scheme, PSU banks are set to get over their problem of overstaffing. But is it going to make banks more competitive in this age of automation? Besides, it is also going to cost more than Rs 7,500 crore and will deprive the banks of skilled workers.

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Cricketwatch:
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STATES: WEST BENGAL

Simmer Time

Ghising balances trouble at home with his indispensability to political groups in the state

By Labonita Ghosh in Siliguri

Subhash Ghising, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader, was buoyant at the Pintail Resort near Siliguri on February 10. His trip to Delhi had been fruitful and he was optimistic about changes; after 12 years, GNLF leaders, state and Central Government representatives had sat together to review the 1998 tripartite accord that had given birth to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). Over lunch, someone raised the topic of militant Gorkha Liberation Organisation (GLO) leader Chhatre Subba's ultimatum last November to Ghising and the 28 DGHC members to resign by December 31 or "face dire consequences". Other groups have also been haranguing Ghising to either step up plans for a separate state or step down. "These are nothing but silly demands by silly people," Ghising reassured aides.

NEW PLOY: Ghising, in hospital, talks of more power for the DGHC

Two hours later, Ghising realised his detractors meant business. As his five-car convoy approached a sharp bend along the narrow Pankhabari road to Darjeeling, a grenade hit the pilot car and shots rang out. The unknown assailants killed two security guards and gave the DGHC chairman near-fatal shrapnel and bullet wounds.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Subba tops the list of suspects, but in the past five years, a growing number of organisations have come out against Ghising. Groups like the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, the All Gorkha Students' Union (AGSU), the Bharatiya Gorkha Janshakti (BGJ) and the CPI(M) breakaway, the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) have not only criticised Ghising for neglecting development work in the hills but also for giving up the Gorkhaland dream. "We were the first to put forward a demand for a separate state," says BGJ's C.R. Rai. "Now three new states have been formed, but not Gorkhaland."

Both Mamata and Bhattacharya are keen on having Ghising on their side in the polls

WOOING THE GORKHAS

» The Left Front has lost a lot of popularity since the Kamtapur movement began in north Bengal. » Trinamool hopes to wean away votes in Darjeeling and north Bengal. » The three hill seats may prove crucial in case of a tight finish.

Instead, Ghising's new ploy has been to ask for the inclusion of DGHC in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution that provides for administration of tribal areas. "This will correct the many loopholes the DGHC suffers from," argues Ghising, "and will also translate into more funds." Which, of course, is a volte face for someone who once famously said, "We wear three-piece suits, how can we be tribals?" No wonder there are feelings that Ghising is shortselling the people. "This Sixth
Schedule thing will not do," emphasises Roshan Giri, president of the AGSU.
"It as to be Gorkhaland or nothing." The formation of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand
and Uttaranchal have
only whetted the
separatist thirst.

MetroScape
Delhi On My Mind...
I'm very flattered to have this act of 'piracy' take place," laughs William Dalrymple, as extracts from his engrossing travelogue City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi were interpreted by photographer Agnes Montanari and art historian Nathalie Trouveroy in an exhibition.
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"I was very much against the idea of India," says William Dalrymple, author, The City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. In conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia Faleiro, he talks about his old girlfriend, Delhi and his "enormously exciting" next book, The White Moghuls in Interviews.