With eye on Assembly polls, West Bengal CM hikes honorarium to community Durga Pujas by 30 %
The hike in honorarium to community Durga Pujas months ahead of Assembly polls in the State, evoked strong reaction from Opposition parties who described it as a 'bribe' by the West Bengal's ruling party.
Ms. Banerjee said that the number of Durga Puja clubs which organise community Puja in West Bengal is about 45,000 and going by the numbers the honorarium is going to cost ₹495 crore to the State exchequer. The Chief Minister also urged electricity supply companies to give 80 % rebate to the clubs organising Puja and said that all government
'Last year the sum was ₹85,000, this year how much you want. Should it be ₹90,000, ₹95,000, One lakh. Ok let us fix it is ₹1.10 lakh this year,' she announced amidst applause from Durga Puja organisers at a gathering in Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Highlighting that Durga Puja is the festival which is close to the hearts of every resident of the State, the Chief Minister told organisers that their focus should be crowd management and clubs should not compete with each other to draw large crowds. Ms. Banerjee advised the clubs to engage more volunteers and have separate entry and exits in Durga Puja pandals.
The Durga Puja festival will be held in the last week of September and the Durga Puja Carnival will be held on October 5.
Ms. Banerjee urged the Durga Puja organisers to help the migrant workers who have returned to the State after facing harassment in BJP-ruled States. 'I request Durga Puja committees to help migrant workers, who are returning to Bengal after facing torture in BJP-ruled states.'
Opposition asks CM to release Dearness Allowance
Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that the Chief Minister can pay ₹2 lakhs to Durga Puja but before that she should pay the Dearness Allowance (DA) to employees.
'She should increase the salary of ICDS, Angandwadi workers, civic police volunteers and other contractual staff,' Mr. Adhikari said. The LOP predicted that before the Assembly polls Ms. Banerjee will hike the honorarium given to imams and muezzins by ₹500.
The honorarium to Durga Puja clubs has on several occasions been challenged before the Calcutta High Court and the State government's argument has been that the funds are to increase awareness on several issues including Safe Drive Safe Life. The Mamata Banerjee government had introduced honorarium to committees organising Durga Puja in 2018 promising a sum of ₹10,000 to each club. In seven years the grant has increased by 11 times.
Last year Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T.S. Sivagnanam had told Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal government, that the state should consider giving ₹10 lakh to each organiser as that would be commensurate to conducting the puja, saying that ₹85,000 is nothing compared to the expenditure required to celebrate the Durga puja.
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