Darjeeling, Nov. 26: The Centre has deferred the tripartite talks to include the Darjeeling Hills under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

An 11-member Gorkha National Liberation Front delegation, led by party president Subash Ghisingh, was to sign a memorandum of settlement in Delhi on November 29. The meeting has now been rescheduled on December 6.

“Our delegation will not be leaving tomorrow as sched- uled. We have learnt that the Centre will convene the historic meeting on December 6. I am not aware why the meeting has been rescheduled,” said I.N. Pradhan, president of the GNLF Kurseong branch committee.

The run-up to the meeting has already been shrouded in mystery, as none of the three parties ? the GNLF, the state government and the Centre ? has disclosed the powers and provisions they are considering for the new autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule.

Except for the Northeastern states, there is no clear definition of the provisions under the Sixth Schedule for other states. Moreover, many of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule in its current form, like setting up tribal courts and creating district and regional councils, cannot be applied to Darjeeling Hills where tribals are not in a majority.

“The GNLF cannot just go and sign a memorandum of settlement without a public debate on the powers of the new body. We are confident that both the Centre and state are not sincere about the interest of the hill people or else the draft would have long been made public,” said Madan Tamang, chairman of the People’s Democratic Front, a conglomeration of anti-Ghisingh parties in the Hills.

At the end they will only give some little powers to the chairman of the same old DGHC and change its nomenclature to the Darjeeling Gorkha Tribal Council and will pass it off as Sixth Schedule”, said Madan Tamang, chairman, People’s Democratic Front (PDF) -a conglomeration of anti-Ghisingh parties in the Hills.

The PDF has raised a valid debate in the Hills and have mentioned that the Darjeeling Hills cannot be incorporated within the Sixth Schedule, unless an amendment is made in the parliament.

“A two-third majority is needed for a constitutional amendment. The UPA government does not have the required strength and the state BJP has already announced that they will not support the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling Hills. Ghisingh is only trying to fool the people with his latest election stunt”, said Tamang.

The GNLF has so far not disclosed the powers and provisions it wants for the new administrative set up.