Govt lends muscle to Rakhi spirit, declares it state-wide festival
Times of India | 28 August 2026
Kolkata: Bengal will officially celebrate Rakhi Bandhan as a state festival from this year, taking the occasion to every district, civic body, block, and more than 3,000 gram panchayats with an allocation of nearly Rs 9 crore.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari will attend a Rakhi Bandhan programme at Ambedkar Colony, 34, Judges Court Road, at 10 am on Friday before joining the main state programme at Nazrul Mancha at 11 am.
“Aimed at fostering social harmony, unity, and brotherhood across the region, we will officially celebrate it on Aug 28 with state-wide public programmes and govt initiatives,” Adhikari said.
The programme, organised by the youth welfare and sports department, in association with the information and cultural affairs department, will focus on love, fraternity, harmony and nationalism.
The scale of the exercise will take Rakhi celebrations to 22 district headquarters, the GTA, 45 subdivisions, 345 blocks, 121 municipalities, six municipal corporations, and 3,034 gram panchayats. Kolkata’s entire network of 144 municipal wards will also hold programmes. Around 25.6 lakh rakhis have been arranged for distribution across Bengal.
The govt has sanctioned Rs 9 crore, of which Rs 2.9 crore will be spent on rakhis. The largest allocation — Rs 3.3 crore — is for programmes across 3,034 gram panchayats.
Another Rs 1.2 crore has been allotted to 121 municipalities, Rs 86.3 lakh to 345 blocks, and Rs 28.8 lakh to Kolkata’s 144 wards. The 22 district headquarters will get Rs 22 lakh while Rs 11.25 lakh has been earmarked for the 45 subdivisions.
The celebration at Nazrul Mancha will continue till 3 pm and is expected to draw a crowd of 2,500 students from colleges, NCC units and computer centres. RBU students and KMC will also organise events.