NEW DELHI: Welfare of tea garden workers, waste management, generating employment opportunities and poverty alleviation in Darjeeling and Siliguri are some of the things India’s former Foreign Secretary and G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla has been working towards since November. He is also emerging as a popular choice as a local candidate from Darjeeling for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"I have mostly been in Siliguri and Darjeeling since the past few months and my objective is to help the people on my home turf," said Shringla while talking to The New Indian Express. He has also established the Darjeeling Welfare Society (DWS).
Shringla often meets locals during morning walks and also catches up with them over a cup of tea, nearly everyday. He has addressed students in colleges and schools and motivates them to study and strive for success. He was also instrumental in organising a G20 Tourism meeting in Darjeeling, which the locals are very grateful for.
Recently at his invitation a delegation of CEOs from the US visited Siliguri and so did members of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation will visit the area again on January 29th and help them in assisting tea garden workers to supplement their income and also inform locals on waste management.
"We organised a Rozgar Mela in November where major corporates like Taj, Intercontinental, Thomas Cook came to our area and met qualified locals. Around 270 youth were offered jobs. This is the core of the DWS, we would like to support people in getting employment and help in welfare activities," Shringla added.
The DWS was formed in 2014 when it began to execute welfare work and it got registered in 2023.
Shringla never lost touch with locals in the area, even when he was a serving diplomat. During the outbreak of the pandemic, he helped stranded Indians hailing from Darjeeling and Sikkim to return home from the Gulf.
"He is liked a lot by the locals here since he was instrumental in organising the G20 meeting here and he also works towards helping people get jobs. Besides, most people in Darjeeling like his unassuming nature and we really wish he contests from Darjeeling in the upcoming elections," Sreejana C Gurung, an educationist from Mirik, told The New Indian Express.
The local population in Siliguri and Darjeeling are optimistic that if Shringla was to get a ticket from the BJP to contest, he would win hands down.
"We need a Super Speciality hospital and a Central University around this area, and if Shringla was to win we are sure both these things would become possible," Gurung added.