Birbhum district magistrate Bidhan Ray on Friday announced that the
state government would organise Pous Mela in Santiniketan as Visva-Bharati and Santiniketan Trust had decided to stay off from the event this year.

“The state government will organise the Pous Mela this year. First, we will approach Visva-Bharati for the Pous Mela ground.

“If they refuse, we will organise the event following the tradition at Dakbungalow ground like the past two years,” Ray said after a meeting with district administration officials, Santiniketan Trust members and other stakeholders of the fair.

The government’s Pous Mela is expected to begin on December 23 (7th Pous according to the Bengali calendar) and continue for five days.

Minister Chandranath Sinha, Birbhum zilla parishad chief Kajal Sheikh, police officers, and representatives of Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, an NGO, were present at Friday’s meeting at the office of the subdivisional officer of Bolpur.

The district administration also formed a steering committee for organising the fair.

A senior varsity official said Visva-Bharati would decide only after receiving the proposal from the district administration.

Anil Konar, the honorary secretary of Santiniketan Trust, said: “We will certainly take part in the Pous Mela
organised by the government.”

Visva-Bharati and Santiniketan Trust had jointly decided not to hold the traditional annual event citing several constraints, including “paucity of time”.