Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Saturday likened the coercive practices to collect puja subscription with ‘cancer’ and asserted that such malpractices should stop immediately. He called upon the elders of the community puja organising clubs to come forward in order to prevent the over-enthusiasts from indulging in such practices. 

“I have nothing more to say about this. These practices are like cancer. Every year such reports keep coming from several places in spite of being given clear instructions. For better dissemination of instructions, pre-puja meetings are conducted to tell the organisers to abstain from such acts,” said Dr Saha. 

Stating that in many cases, the elders of the clubs are kept in the dark. “It has been noticed that a bunch of over enthusiasts indulge in such practices without the knowledge of the elders who are actually handling all the serious affairs. I am telling them it once again: Control them. The government shall neither tolerate such acts nor it will act leniently. The common people must not feel any pressure or compulsion,” Dr Saha said.