West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee told journalists on Tuesday she requested the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to declare “Durga Puja as intangible cultural heritage of humanity and international festival”. She added that festivities will take place under comparable Covid regulations as the last year.
“Last year a sequence of measures had been followed to keep the Durga Puja amid Covid-19. I don’t suppose any extra measures are required. Whatever measures had been introduced last year might be sufficient and can be observed this year too,” she stated during a press briefing.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo additionally knowledgeable journalists that the authorities have not to take any choice on whether or not people might be allowed to go to puja pandals at night time. “The choice on people touring Durga puja pandals at night time could be taken later, relying on how the predicted third wave of Covid-19 surfaces,” she stated.
The TMC-led Bengal government has also introduced a provision of ₹50,000 to every Durga Puja committee to assist them to make up for the sponsorships that dried up because of the coronavirus pandemic. A 50% reduction in electricity tariffs and free licenses can also be given to puja committees, leader secretary HK Dwivedi stated on Tuesday.