West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a lot of money is being spent to spread hatred among communities in the country. “The BJP is funding to instigate communal tension ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.” (File)
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday announced a hike of Rs 500 in the monthly allowance of Muslim clerics and Hindu priests.
At a conference of imams (Muslim clerics) and muezzins (those who call others for namaz) in Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor stadium, she said, “Wakf board used to give the allowance of imams and muezzins. Our capacity is limited. I would request to increase their monthly allowance by Rs 500. We are also increasing the monthly allowance of purohits by Rs 500.”
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A senior officer of the finance department said, “The government is not ready to give due dearness allowance (DA) to the state government employees because we have a fund crisis. We do not know how we can manage this burden.”
In her speech, Banerjee attacked BJP, the CPI(M), and the Congress. She claimed a CPI(M)-backed union was culpable in the recent death of a first-year student at Jadavpur University amid allegations of ragging by seniors.
She also said a lot of money is being spent to spread hatred among communities in the country. “The BJP is funding to instigate communal tension ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.”
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
