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Debjit Mukherjee, Darjeeling: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee served ‘phuchka’ to children at a stall in Darjeeling on Tuesday. She was was attending a ‘haat’ when she found out during her conversation with the women of the stall that a man had come from Bangladesh to visit Darjeeling. This is when she asked the women to serve him ‘phuchka’ and said she will pay for the same. Later she mashed some potatoes and put the stuffing inside the ‘phuchka’. Then she called the children who were watching her all this while to serve them the snack.
Earlier in the day, she attended the swearing-in ceremony of the elected members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. She said that she does not wish to usurp power in Darjeeling and wants to have friendship with the people of the hills. She proposed an array of developmental projects in Darjeeling, including three new satellite towns in the fringes of the region along with Kurseong and Kalimpong. These towns will include an industrial hub, homestays, shopping malls and restaurants, among others. In addition, she also proposed skill training centres for job generation in the hills, schemes to boost homestays and eco-tourism centres around tea gardens, government loans for women drivers and piped drinking water for all by 2024.