News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee /22nd September 2024
On Saturday, two more community Durga Puja committees in Kolkata declared that they had turned down a Rs 85,000 grant from the West Bengal government in protest over the doctor’s alleged rape and murder at a state-run hospital here last month.
The 75-year-old Netajinagar Sarbojonin Durga Puja Committee notified the administration of its decision to decline the grant, citing purported incompetence on the part of the RG Kar hospital’s staff in the wake of the horrific murder on August 9. “We don’t need any state grant for our puja this year. This decision has been taken to honour the sentiment and emotion of the people of our locality, including women. We will manage to deck up the pandal and do illumination with the fund collected by us and from the help of residents of the locality and well-wishers,” a spokesperson of the puja committee said.
The Madhyapara Abahani Club in Behala, south Kolkata, has similarly made the decision to forgo the Rs 85,000 award and celebrate their 50th anniversary in a low-key way as a show of solidarity.
Due to the RG Kar issue, four Puja committees in Hooghly, one in each of the South and North 24 Parganas and Murshidabad, had previously denied the gift. Of the 2,757 Durga Puja committees registered in and around Kolkata, 670 have filed for the state funding this year. In the state, there are about 30,000 community pujas. The Rs 85,000 grant was given by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a meeting held in July at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
In the state, there are about 30,000 community pujas. The Rs 85,000 grant was given by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a meeting held in July at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
