Major Policy Shift In Bengal, No More Welfare Funds For Imams, Temple Priests

The Bengal government under Suvendu Adhikari has come up with a number of key decisions in the first meeting of the state cabinet held today. The two most important include discontinuation of government assistance to groups based on religious categorisation from June and scrapping the state's existing list of Other Backward Classes following an order from the Calcutta High Court. "A panel will be set up to decide quota eligibility," said minister Agnimitra Paul.

Schemes being implemented under religious categorisation by the departments of Information and Cultural Affairs and Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education will continue till the end of this month. These will be stopped from June. Notifications in this regard would be issued separately, Paul added.

The decision to discontinue these schemes therefore represents a major policy reversal. The state government maintains that welfare programmes should not be based on religious identity.

The previous Trinamool government had announced monthly honorarium for imams, muezzins, and temple priests a year after it came to power in the state. 

Photo Credit: IANS

The first of these schemes was introduced in 2012. The government had announced a monthly honorarium for imams across West Bengal. Under the scheme, registered imams received Rs2,500 per month to support religious leaders who came from economically weaker sections. 

Soon after, a similar financial assistance programme was extended to muezzins, the individuals who call worshippers to prayer in mosques. Both these funds were disbursed from the minority welfare department. 

In 2020, then state government introduced a similar allowance for Hindu priests or purohits. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to counter criticism that only Muslim religious leaders were receiving state support. 

Under this scheme, registered purohits received a monthly honorarium, initially fixed at around Rs 1,000 and revised to Rs 2000 ahead of the 2026 Vidhan Sabha polls. 

Probe Into Atrocities Against Women

The government has also formed a commission to investigate irregularities in fund distribution during the Mamata Banerjee government.

Adhikari has formed a commission under the supervision of retired justice Biswajit Das  to investigate alleged institutional corruptions.
Following the cabinet meeting, Adhikari told the media: "We have formed a committee under the leadership of Retired Justice Samapti Chatterjee. IPS Damyanti Sen will be member secretary. All cases related to the atrocities against women across the state will be investigated."

"We are expecting report within one month," he added.