Kolkata: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has donated his one month's salary to Chief Minister's Relief Fund in view of the rising cases of dengue in the state. This comes a few days after he cancelled his trip to the United States after assessing the state's economic condition and increasing dengue cases.
Raj Bhavan sources claimed that the money was donated to handle the spike in dengue cases but has not stated the specific amount that has been donated. A governor draws a salary amounting to around Rs 3.5 lakh apart from various allowances and facilities.
Bose reportedly did not donate the entire Rs 3.5 lakh but sources claim that he gave a somewhat similar amount to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Sources said that the donation is aimed at covering all expenses related to dengue treatment for the common people of West Bengal.
In the last few months, Bose has consistently announced financial rewards for people. Earlier, he had announced 'West Bengal Governor's Durga Bharat Samman' to commemorate Durga Puja and invited nominations from diverse fields.
Nominations for the award were sought from civil society, individuals and organisations before September at DurgaBharatAwards@gmail.com. The awards are to be given under three categories namely Durga Bharat Param Samman (amounting to Rs 1,00,000), Durga Bharat Samman (Rs 50,000) and Durga Bharat Awards (Rs 25,000).
The announcement of the awards by the Governor rose a controversy with questions being raised on whether he is entitled to give away such awards. Also, questions were raised about the financial resources for these award. The Raj Bhavan source claimed that a Governor can provide financial assistance to the needy by giving such awards or measures.
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"Many people from different parts of the state seek help from Raj Bhavan throughout the year because they are unable to raise money for treatment of terminal diseases. The permission from the state government is not required in such a case. The Governor has a huge amount of money in the coffers since the British era for spending money in all these sectors. It is deposited in a state-owned bank and there is no need to depend on the state government for this," a Raj Bhawan source said
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