Bengal to give Rs 85k monetary aid to Durga Puja organisers

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the government’s aid to Durga Puja organisers of each community has been raised to Rs 85,000 this year. Last year, it was Rs 70,000, NDTV reported.

The CM also announced that Rs 15,000 more will be added to it next year, providing Rs 1 lakh each to all communities who organise the religious event.

She further announced that all licences given to puja organisers will be free of cost, and there will be a 75 per cent discount on electricity bills incurred by the event. The estimate for all these this year is Rs 340 crore as financial assistance to puja organisers.

Mamata made the announcement during an administrative and coordination meeting with Durga Puja organisers. There are around 43,000 registered community Durga Pujas held across the state, while 15,000 are in Kolkata and surrounding areas.

She then said that the national budget was announced on Tuesday, and nothing was earmarked for Bengal. “No matter how sad we are, we will never say no to times of celebration,” NDTV quoted the Trinamool Congress supremo.

Later, the minister cautioned puja organisers on safety measures that must be followed to avoid untoward incidents during the Durga Puja, which earned the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity tag. She asked the organisers to discuss their plans with the administration for proper planning and crowd management. She said that stampede-like situations strictly needed to be avoided.

Also, there must be no issue regarding the security of women, especially able people, etc. There must be multiple entry and exit points for all pandals. Police, district, state and puja committee control rooms should be present for easy coordination, Mamata Banerjee said.