Mamata announces monthly allowance, free housing for Brahmin priests ahead of polls

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a monthly allowance of ₹1,000 and free housing for more than 8,000 poor Sanatan Brahmin priests of the state

KOLKATA : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a monthly allowance of ₹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 ₹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.