KOLKATA: The BJP leadership has decided to provide grants to Puja organisers in Bengal after getting a detailed list from the state leadership.
Sources in the state BJP said that Bengal has promised Central government funds for community Durga Puja organisers if they project Central schemes at any Durga Puja pandal.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said: “Community clubs that organise pujas have been told that Central ministries may bear their cost of decorations and themes if they are based on social welfare and development projects undertaken by the (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi government.”
“Our leaders have been told to be associated with as many Durga pujas as possible. They will coordinate with the Union ministries if any club comes up with decorations and themes that project Central schemes. The ministries have allocated a Budget for a dvertisements,” he added.
Sources in the state BJP said that the state leadership will review the reports gathered from the district BJP units, and after evaluating them alongside their intelligence inputs, they will prepare a revised list of Puja committees considered eligible for the grant. This updated list will then be sent to the national leadership for the disbursal of the Puja grant. The amount of the grant will be based on the theme of the Puja committee.
The move invited a sharp reaction from the Trinamool Congress (TMC). It also comes at a time when the TMC is demanding release of funds for various social welfare schemes that Union ministries have suspended citing either corruption or mismanagement.
According to TMC leaders, BJP should not forget that it is because of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s efforts that UNESCO added Kolkata Durga Puja to its 2021 list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, giving international recognition to the festival.
The TMC also sees the BJP’s new move as an outreach exercise to counter Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to hike the state’s financial assistance to the clubs to Rs 1,10,000. The amount was Rs 60,000 in 2022. In 2018, when Banerjee started the assistance scheme, the amount was Rs 10,000.