HC wants CAG report on state’s Rs. 85k Puja grant to local clubs

Kolkata: Taking into account that none of the Puja committees have accounted for the expenditure, the Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to file a fund-utilisation report on the state government’s grant of Rs 85000 to local clubs across the state for organising Durga Puja.

The Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Bivas Pattanayak was moved questioning the merits of such grants. The court on Monday observed that the question of merits had been settled earlier and at the present stage a report can be called for by the CAG on how the fund is being utilised.

During the hearing, the CJ said that going by the amount of funds needed to organise a puja, Rs 85000 is

hardly sufficient. “What needs to be seen is how these funds are utilised. The committees are accountable and the nature of expenditure must be clear. The state should respond with a CAG report. It was submitted that none of the committees have accounted for the expenditure. Let the appropriate authority file an affidavit.”

The counsel for the petitioner remarked that it is evident that such a sum cannot be used to organise Puja which is an expensive affair and hence these grants are mostly being used by the local clubs for their entertainment purposes.

The court observed it was unfortunate that the state government is paying Rs 85,000 to Puja clubs while it is paying Rs 1000 only to patients with rare diseases such as

muscular dystrophy. “The state government is overlooking other priorities,” the CJ said while adding how PWD workers engaged on High Court premises were not being paid minimum wages which in turn is also affecting work at the court. The High Court had recently expressed disappointment over the state’s tendency to fill up sanctioned posts in courts by engaging contractual employees which is leading to the suffering of district judges and other judges in the various judgeships in West Bengal.