Chief Secy directs online single-window clearance for Durga Puja permissions

Kolkata: State Chief Secretary BP Gopalika on Monday directed the district magistrates to set up dedicated portals in their respective districts for single window clearance of applications for hosting Durga Puja scheduled in October this year for speeding up the process of granting permission.

According to Nabanna sources, the Chief Secretary has made it clear that no physical permission should be granted to the Puja organisers and the entire process of application and granting permission should be in online mode.

“The state government wants to fast track the entire process with the number of pujas across the state increasing by leaps and bounds and hence the switch over to online mode has been made,” a senior Nabanna official said.

It may be mentioned that District Magistrate South 24-Parganas Sumit Gupta has already taken the lead in this regard by launching a portal for this purpose. The district magistrates have been asked to consult him, if needed, in

this matter.

More than 43,000 community Durga Pujas are held across the state, including 2793 under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police. The total number of women organised Pujas is 2479.

Kolkata Police already has a web portal named ‘Aasan’ for single window clearances for the Durga Puja festival.