Ahead of polls, WB CM announces monthly allowance, free housing for Brahmin priests

On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 and free housing for over 8,000 poor Sanatan Brahmin priests to make them financially stable. The move comes ahead of 2021 Assembly elections.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 and free housing for more than 8,000 poor Sanatan Brahmin priests of the state. The decision was taken ahead of the assembly polls in 2021.

"We had earlier provided land to the Sanatan Brahmin sect to set up an academy at Kolaghat. Many priests in this sect are financially weak. We have decided to help them by providing them with an allowance of Rs 1,000 per month and also free housing under the state government's housing scheme," Banerjee said.

Congratulating people on the Hindi Diwas, she also said that her government respects all languages and does not have a linguistic bias.

"We respect all languages. We have decided to form a new Hindi Academy. We have also decided to set up a Dalit Sahitya Academy. Dalits' languages have influence on the Bengali language," she told reporters.

PTI report

Read:|BJP worker's body found hanging from tree in Bengal's Hooghly district