West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose.
Credit: PTI Photo
With West Bengal gearing up for the biggest festive season – the celebration of Durga Puja, Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, on Wednesday, announced “Governor’s Durga Bharat Samman”, and invited nominations for the awards.
An update shared by the Governor’s House stated that nominations could be made from diverse fields, nationally, for the “West Bengal Governor’s Durga Bharat Samman”.
The first award is the Durga Bharat Param Samman which offers Rs 1 lakh. The second and the third awards are the Durga Bharat Samman, and Durga Bharat Puraskar, with Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000, respectively, as the amount of the award.
Nominations, according to the Raj Bhavan, can be submitted by “civil society”, individuals, or institutions, before September 30.
There are several categories the awards cover. The Art category covers music, painting, sculpture, photography, cinema, theatre, tribal arts, folk arts, and other genres. The award for social work covers social service, charitable service, and contribution to community projects.
Furthermore, categories under the governor’s award are – public affairs (law, public life), science and engineering (including space engineering, and nuclear science), information technology – research and development in science and its allied subjects, and trade & industry (covers banking, economic activities, management, promotion of tourism, and business).
Awards also include the fields of medicine (covering medical research, distinction, specialisation in Ayurveda, homoeopathy, sidha, allopathy, and naturopathy), literature and education (includes journalism, teaching, book composing, and other contributions), civil service, and sports.
The “Others” category covers fields not covered in the mentioned categories, but may “include propagation of Indian culture, protection of human rights, wildlife protection and conservation.”
The awards are “to be conferred on the occasion of Durga Puja”, the update from Raj Bhavan has mentioned.
In August this year, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced an increased financial assistance for puja committees – Rs 70,000, an increase of Rs 10,000 from last year.
The committees, Banerjee had said, get the financial support, and this money is used for generating awareness about the state’s welfare schemes. The state also holds a mega Durga Puja Carnival.