Durga Puja: CM to hold review meet over preps on Aug 22

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a review meeting regarding preparations for Durga Puja at Netaji Indoor Stadium on August 22. The Puja committees of the block and municipalities level across the state will attend the meet virtually.

ADG (Law and Order) Jawed Shamim along with Santanu Basu, secretary Information and Cultural Affairs department chaired a virtual meeting with the District Magistrates, SPs and CPs of the Commissionerates and asked them to make necessary arrangements for bringing the Puja committees in a single venue in the respective districts and connect them in a virtual mode.

The Chief Minister has already announced that Puja will be observed in a grand manner this year considering the Durga Puja's inclusion in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) 'Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity'.

Banerjee will be taking part in a massive rally along with the Puja committees in Kolkata on September 1.

A detailed research conducted by the British Council in collaboration with the state government revealed that a whopping Rs 32,377 crore economy gets generated during Durga Puja in Bengal.

The report that came to light in February last year has revealed that the economy which gets generated during Durga Puja through the creative industry shares around 2.53 per cent of the state's GDP.

Over 34,000 and 2,500 Durga Pujas get organised in the areas under the jurisdiction of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police respectively. At the same time, over 1,700 Pujas get organised by women-run committees.