Kolkata, Sept. 8 -- Seven prominent Durga Puja committees in Kolkata have decided not to apply for the Rs 1 lakh assistance announced by the West Bengal government, following Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's appeal to large-budget puja organisers to forgo the grant.
Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha, one of the seven committees, has instead decided to donate Rs 1 lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, its chairperson and state BJP spokesperson Keya Ghosh said.
The other six committees are Santoshpur Lake Pally, Tala Pratyay, Chorbagan Sarbojanin, Naktala Udayan Sangha, Santosh Mitra Square and Phoolbagan Sarbojanin. All seven announced their decision not to seek assistance through social media.
At a meeting with Durga Puja organisers on Monday, Adhikari said smaller puja committees would receive Rs 1 lakh each in government assistance after applying for the grant. However, he urged larger pujas with the financial capacity to raise funds independently to refrain from seeking the aid.
BJP MLA and Puja organiser Sajal Ghosh said on social media that Santosh Mitra Square had not accepted government assistance in the past and would continue the practice this year.
Puja committees seeking the grant will have to apply through their respective police stations. The applications will then be scrutinised and forwarded through the police administration for processing under the prescribed government procedure.
Santoshpur Lake Pally, in a social media post, thanked the Chief Minister for the announcement but said it would not accept the grant.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.