Bengal's Luminous Club Refuses Governor's 'Durga Ratna' Award in Protest of Central Funds Withheld by BJP

The governor of Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose, selected the Luminous Club of Kalyani in Nadia for his "Durga Ratna" award. However, the club has refused to accept it in protest of monies owed to Bengal being withheld by the BJP-led Centre, for which he is a nominated representative.

Official announcement of the decision was made by club administrators on Wednesday night. They said that the decision was made out of "social commitment" rather than for political reasons.

"We would feel privileged if he (Bose) could instead arrange the disbursement of outstanding payments for thousands of beneficiaries under the MGNREGS, for example," said the club's principal advisor, Trinamul leader and Kalyani municipality councilor Arup Mukherjee.

"He (Bose) ought to distribute the monetary award to the underprivileged, low-income recipients of federal programs who have endured years of hardship due to the funding embargo," he said.

Every "Durga Ratna" winner receives a plaque, a citation, and a financial reward of Rs 5 lakh.

A rival club in north Calcutta, Tala Prattoy, declined to accept the trophy as well. The club, selected due to Susanta Pal's amazing use of light and shadow in the pandal, said they were not involved in the competition but expressed gratitude to Raj Bhavan for their kindness.

Bose last week announced the recipients of the "Durga Ratna" award, which went to four Puja organizers across Bengal.

This was thought to be comparable to the state government's district-level prizes for the top Puja organizers.

The governor's edict refers to the Luminous Club as "Kalyani ITI Pandal," and it was selected for its "grandeur and visual delight." The club re-created the Grand Lisboa, a posh hotel in Macau that has drawn enormous crowds since state leader Mamata Banerjee practically inaugurated it on October 16.

On Sashthi, Governor Bose visited the Luminous Club's pandal in Kalyani, but neither the club nor any representatives of the Nadia government were there to greet him.

The Bose headquarters announced the prize a few hours later, and the Luminous Club summoned a meeting and chose not to accept it.

The state government claims that out of a total of Rs 1.15 lakh crore under several headings, the Center owes almost Rs 8,000 crore under the MGNREGS alone.

After Trinamul general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's rallies in Delhi and Calcutta earlier this month elevated frozen money to a national platform, the issue gained significant political traction in Bengal. Mamata is expected to join the Abhishek-led movement if her health improves, but for now it is on hold until October 31 due to Bose's promise to arbitrate the issue.

Mukherjee, the head mentor of Luminous Club, said, "The governor seems to be doing very little to get the beneficiaries' dues cleared, despite knowing everything." Accepting the reward would be a betrayal of the impoverished recipients. We have chosen to respectfully refuse the honor since so many people have been suffering."

Members of the club also said that by refusing, they were supporting Abhishek in his continuing battle against the Center's funding freeze.