12,400 new Durga Pujas permitted in Bengal this year, grants to be disbursed soon, says Suvendu

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said his Government had granted permission for 12,400 new Durga Pujas this year and all of them had received financial assistance from the State.

Speaking at a special programme marking the beginning of ‘Debipaksha’ at the Eden Gardens here, Adhikari said around 45,000 Durga Pujas were held in the State last year.

“Earlier, (during the previous Government) to hold Durga Pujas, one had to approach the Calcutta High Court to get requisite permission. It was sad. I do not think there is a single such case this time. Compared to the number of Durga Pujas held in 2025, this year we have 12,400 new pujas,” he said.

“In our Cabinet meeting, we decided that Durga Pujas will not commence during Pitripakkha, which is why we inaugurated it today during Debipokkho. We had decided that this year, besides the cultural aspects of the puja, we will also follow the customary rituals as per the traditional Hindu astrological almanac,” Adhikari said.

Pitripaksha is the fortnight dedicated to honouring ancestors through rituals such as ‘tarpan’ and ‘shraddha’, while Debipaksha marks the auspicious period associated with Goddess Durga and the lead-up to Durga Puja. In Bengal, Debipaksha begins after Mahalaya, which marks the conclusion of Pitripaksha.

The chief minister said more than 200 Durga Puja committees had declined to accept the grants this year and instead urged the Government to extend assistance to committees in rural Bengal and those run by women.

Adhikari announced that the state Government would begin disbursing the grants to clubs and committees from Sunday. The state Government is providing a grant of `1 lakh to each Durga Puja committee across West Bengal.

He said special cultural programmes would be organised over the next four days, until Sasthi, in Durgapur, Bishnupur, Siliguri, Cooch Behar, Malda, Berhampore and Digha.

Earlier, Adhikari led a rally of State Cabinet ministers, film personalities and members of the sporting fraternity from Red Road to Eden Gardens.

Governor RN Ravi, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar, and BJP MP and State president Samik Bhattacharya attended the programme.

Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who is in the city and scheduled to stay here for a few days, was also present at the programme.

She was seen sharing the dais with the Bengal CM, Governor and actor Mithun Chakraborty.