The high court on Tuesday refused to interfere in the state government’s decision to offer Rs 60,000 as grant to each registered Durga Puja committee and disposed of a string of petitions challenging the move.
The division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj laid down conditions for the disbursal of the amount.
“We are not inclined to interfere in the decision of the State.... However, we are of the opinion that the grant should be strictly utilised for the purpose which has been mentioned in the order dated 6th of September, 2022, so that the public purpose contained therein is achieved,” the bench said.
The government order announcing the grant had said it would be given “for assisting in showcasing the cultural heritage of Durga puja, to promote tourism in West Bengal and community policing activities of the state government”.
About 40,028 clubs (3,000 of them under Kolkata police) will get the grant, which will cost the state exchequer Rs 240.16 crore.
Last year, the committees had got Rs 50,000 each.
The conditions laid down by the bench on Tuesday include
- Only those committees will get the grant that had used last year’s grant and submitted the utilisation certificate in time.
- The committees will submit the utilisation certificate along with supporting vouchers to the SDOs in the districts and designated officers in the area under Kolkata police by November 15.
- The state police and their counterparts in Kolkata will distribute the grant.
- The order says: “It will be the responsibility of the police to ensure that the grant is utilised for the public purpose mentioned in the order dated 6th of September”.
- The director general of police will ensure the grant is not utilised for purposes other than the ones mentioned in the September 6 order.
“Most committees will utilise the grant to showcase the cultural heritage of the state,” said Kajal Sarkar, president of the Forum for Durgostab, an umbrella organisation of puja committees.