E-Paper
Authorities to blacklist 900 organisations after no-show this year at Magh Mela
Despite land allotment, many did not turn up to set up their camps and remained missing without information
The Prayagraj Mela Authority has decided to take action against organisations and institutions that failed to turn up even after being allotted land as well as other facilities to set up camps in the Magh Mela-2023 for propagating religion and religious activities.
In a report that was compiled after the fair, officials have found that there were around 900 such organisations which had submitted applications seeking land and facilities like tents, light fittings, mats, beds, etc for setting up camps in the annual fair. But after the allotment, not only did they give the fair a miss, they did not even bother to inform the officials about their decision so that the land and facilities could be allotted to some other organisation.
Now, action is being taken to blacklist all of them for an indefinite period. Out of these 900 institutions, 300 were those which had camped in the annual religious fair earlier too while 600 had applied for the first time, shared a senior official of Prayagraj Mela Authority confirming the move.
“We have started making the list of such organisations and institutions,” the official said.
It is worth mentioning that a large number of religious and social organisation set up their camps in the Magh, Kumbh and Mahakumbh melas.
These organisations submit application to the Prayagraj Mela Authority to get land and facilities according to their work and need.
Before Covid outbreak, about 2,500 institutions were given land and facilities every year, but due to the guidelines issued in view of Covid in 2021 and 2022, many organisations did not set up their camps. When the government lifted the restrictions in 2023, many new institutions also applied for land and facilities.
More than 5K applied this year
According to officials of Mela authority, this year more than 5,000 institutions had applied for land. Out of these, 3,500 eligible institutions were given approval. After the fair was over, when the records were scrutinised in terms of list of organisations that were given land and those who had availed the facilities to camp in the mela, the authorities found that there were around 900 organisations who were allotted land and facilities, but they did not camp in the mela area.
Every institution and organisation had tried to get land near Sangam, but this time the fair area had to be expanded due to sludge. A number of organisations were allotted land far away from the Sangam which could have been a major reason for some organisations not setting up the camps.
In Magh Mela, when an organisation is allotted land and facilities for any given year, that organisation becomes a claimant for the same for the next edition of Magh Mela too.
In such a situation, the institutions in whose names land and facilities were registered, have become entitled for it for the Magh Mela-2024 as well. This is being seen as a major reason why the organisations apply and get the land and facilities allotted to them despite knowing that they would not be camping in the mela area for any given edition of the fair.
However, now after the matter has come to light, the authorities have decided that they will not get any facilities in future.
