No separate financial assistance for workers associated with Durga Puja: Odisha High Court

The Odisha High Court recently refused to direct the State government to extend separate financial assistance to workers associated with the Durga Puja festival (Amulya Behera and Others v. State of Odisha and Another)..A Division Bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray was hearing a plea filed by 20 petitioners, who were office-bearers of various Puja Committees in and around Cuttack city. They had moved a writ petition broadly seeking two prayers:The first prayer was regarding easing of restrictions in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the State government for the duration of the Durga Puja in the month of October.The second prayer called for financial assistance for those workers whose livelihood was adversely affected during the festival..Regarding the first prayer, the Court stated that by virtue of its order passed on September 17, 2021, it has already approved the SOP issued by the State government, and therefore, it does not propose to revisit the issue, since the reasons for the Court’s decision are spelt out in that order.With regard to the second prayer, the Court made it clear that it would not be possible to direct the State to extend financial assistance to workers specifically associated with the Durga Puja."Since the restrictions placed by the SOP is in the background of COVID-19 pandemic and since the pandemic has affected a large number of workers in various trades and avocations since March, 2020, it is not possible for the Court to direct the State Government to separately provide for workers associated with the puja festivals for grant of such relief. In any event this is a matter of the policy of the Government," the order stated..Observing that it was a matter of government policy, the Court noted that without any empirical data, it could not issue any directions in this matter. However, it left it open to the petitioners to air their grievances through other avenues..Advocate Abhijit Pati appeared for the petitioners. Additional Government Advocate DK Mohanty appeared for the State..[Read Order]