Raj Bhavan Kolkata is learnt to have selected a total of four Pujas from Kolkata and districts for the Durga Ratna Awards that will be given out by Governor C V Ananda Bose.
The four selected Pujas are Tala Prattoy Durga Puja, Kalyani ITI Durga Puja, Bandhudal Sporting Club, Baranagar and Netaji Colony, as learnt from Raj Bhavan sources.
Further, as to what led these four to qualify for the award, it was learnt that Tala Prattoy was selected for its ‘creative use of light and shade’ in their pandal. Kalyani ITI made it to the list for ‘grandeur and visual delight’.
Bandhudal Sporting Club, Baranagar was selected for the award for ‘environmental consciousness’ in their pandal while Netaji Colony (Low land) for their ‘innovative theme’.
The four pujas will also get a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh which would be shared by the four winners. They will also be presented with a citation and a plaque.
The ‘Durga Ratna’ Awards instituted by Governor C V Ananda Bose seeks to recognise the most outstanding Durga Pandal, which reflects the essence of Bengaliana, is shared by four pandals of the state, based on people’s choice,” a Raj Bhavan official said.
The entries for the award were solicited from the public, who responded to the designated email of Raj Bhavan and the award was sponsored by the State Bank of India (SBI), it was learnt.
Raj Bhavan Kolkata had also invited nominations for Governor’s Durga Bharat Samman. The first set of awards was conferred to the music legend Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Visva Bharati University, ISRO and GRSE teams. All four were awarded the Durga Bharat Param Samman, the highest category of the Durga Bharat awards, which also come with a cash prize of rupees one lakh, a plaque and a citation. The nominations were invited from diverse fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, information technology, literature and education, civil service, sports, among others.