Anit Thapa, the chairperson of the board of administrators of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and a prominent leader of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s Binay Tamang faction, has said he will focus on generation of employment in the hills to prevent the exodus of youths in search of jobs.

“While working during the Covid-19 pandemic in different areas across the hills, I have realised that many educated youths are leaving their native places to earn their livelihood. Many of them belong to tea gardens and do not want to join the tea industry like their parents. Instead, they are choosing other occupations and in the absence of job opportunities in the hills, they are leaving homes. It is time that we take the initiative to create jobs for them here so that this trend of leaving the native places can be stopped,” said Thapa.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting that he held with representatives of development boards and civic bodies in Darjeeling on Wednesday.

The Morcha leader pointed out that it had become a common trend among the hill youths, both men and women, to move out elsewhere and scout for jobs.

“To generate employment, we need to bring in investors here. There are people who are willing to invest in various sectors in the hills. But what discourages them is an apprehension that a statehood movement might break out in the hills again, which can lead to breach of peace, arson and vandalism. We also have to change this perception of them by ensuring stability in the hills,” added Thapa.

He also said many hill youths were seen knocking on the doors of leaders for jobs even after completing their higher education in different fields.

“We will ensure that our local youths are given priority in case of any recruitment made by any private investor. But what we need right now is a steady focus on generation of employment,” said the Morcha leader.

In recent weeks, this is the second time that Thapa has focused on the employment issue. A couple of weeks back, he had written to the state government, pleading that contractual employees of the GTA, many of whom had been working since the DGHC days, be made permanent.

According to political observers in the hills, two top leaders of the Binay Tamang faction (Tamang himself and Thapa) seem to have taken the strategy of flagging all prominent issues of the hills, right from the demand for separate statehood and conferment of Scheduled Tribe status on 11 hill communities to granting of land rights.

“It is evident that the leaders want to prove that they are the lone party to raise the voice on all pertinent issues of the hills,” said an observer.