Calcutta HC moved against Bengal government's decision to enhance Durga Puja dole

Kolkata, Aug 4 A petition was filed at Calcutta High Court on Monday challenging the West Bengal government's decision to enhance the annual dole for different community Durga Puja committees to Rs 1,10,000 this year, up from the previous year's Rs 85,000, as announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week.

Saurav Dutta, a resident of Durgapur in East Burdwan district, sought the permission of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam to file a petition in the matter.

The bench permitted the filing of the petition. However, it is not yet clear when the matter will come up for hearing, and at which bench the matter will be heard.

Dutta also approached the high court with a similar petition last year. However, the court did not intervene in the decision of the state government on this matter.

Already, the state government and the Chief Minister have come under scathing criticism over the decision to enhance the annual dole to the community Puja Committees to Rs 1,10,000 this year.

As per rough estimates, the enhanced Puja dole this year would cost the state exchequer somewhere between Rs 473 crore and Rs 495 crore, depending on the exact number of community Durga Puja committees eligible to receive that dole, an amount substantially higher than the previous year’s figure of Rs 365.5 crore.

While the figures mentioned above would be just the direct payout from the state exchequer, the actual expenditure would be much more, considering the massive 80 per cent electricity concessions provided to beneficiary Puja committees in addition to the annual dole.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had appealed to the community Durga Puja committees not accept the annual dole paid to them as a mark of respect to the junior woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata who became a victim of ghastly rape and murder within the hospital premises in August last year, as well as an expression of solidarity towards the lakhs of unemployed youths in the state, whose dreams of earning a decent livelihood had been shattered because of the flawed policies of the state government.

At the same time, he also announced full support on his part to those community Durga Puja committees who would be refusing the state government's dole offer this year.

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