Overview
- The state announced on Friday that it will withdraw its Supreme Court challenge to a Calcutta High Court order so the CBI can investigate alleged illegal recruitment of more than 400 teachers in GTA-run schools.
- The chief minister ordered a special inquiry team led by the home secretary to probe GTA finances and AMRUT drinking-water contracts and instructed officials to file a report within seven days.
- State officials have temporarily blacklisted the agency that implemented the AMRUT works and directed appointment of Sub-Divisional Officers as administrators in Mirik, Kurseong and Kalimpong to ensure civic services.
- The government pledged ₹3 lakh each for the remaining 90 landslide-affected households and said it will seek to access roughly ₹300 crore in central assistance for closed tea gardens and worker welfare.
- The moves respond to claims that the GTA failed to submit utilisation certificates for ₹180 crore and an annual action plan for a further ₹170 crore, and they could produce criminal probes, reclaimed funds and a shift in hill governance.