Overview
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a tripartite meeting at Sukna on Saturday, August 22, 2026, that brought senior hill leaders and West Bengal officials together to press for a lasting political settlement.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a committee led by interlocutor Pankaj Kumar Singh to draft and finalise the modalities of a proposed agreement and deliver a report to the Home Ministry.
- The Centre has said any settlement will be reached within the Constitution and has offered to consider other hill demands including requests for central funding for development and institutions.
- Participants at the Sukna meeting included GJM leaders Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri, GNLF chief Mann Ghisingh, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
- The move follows decades of unrest and earlier limited transfers of power under the DGHC and GTA, and its near‑term impact will depend on the committee’s visits to the hills, Terai and Dooars and the concrete proposals and timetable it submits.