In a sarcastic remark, the Calcutta High Court on Monday said the West Bengal government may consider giving Rs 10 lakh as dole to each Durga Puja committee, maintaining that the current Rs 85,000 appears to be meagre.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently announced that the dole for Durga Puja organisers, which was Rs 75,000 in 2023, would be raised to Rs 85,000 this year.
Hearing a petition seeking a stop to the disbursal of dole to Durga Puja organisers by the state, the court directed the state government to file an affidavit on the petitioner's prayer for an audited report of the CAG on disbursal of funds to clubs and NGOs and utilisation of the money by these organisations.
Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam told Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal government, that the state should consider giving Rs 10 lakh to each organiser as that would be commensurate to conducting the puja, saying that Rs 85,000 is nothing compared to the expenditure required to celebrate the Durga puja.
The Chief Justice said that he visited several Durga Puja pandals in the two previous years and felt that Rs 85,000 is nothing compared to the expenditure made in organising it, and those are probably utilised for the expenses of the organisers.
The court noted that the West Bengal government gives a paltry Rs 1,000 to a person suffering from disability owing to muscular dystrophy.
The Chief Justice said that there are more pressing issues like the plight of the contract workers, daily wage earners and badli (replacement) workers. He also said that PWD workers deputed to the high court were not being paid minimum wages.