A row has erupted in Gujarat’s Rajkot after Deputy Collector Chandani Parmar allegedly organised a havan in her office on August 21 to stave off any vighna (misfortune) to the Lok Mela (fair). The mela also known as Dharohar was held on the occasion of Janmashtami.
Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha, an organisation to promote scientific temper among the masses, led by rationalist Jayant Pandya, submitted a memorandum to Rajkot Collector Prabhav Joshi questioning the religious function held at the government office.
“Deputy Collector Dr Chandani Parmar conducted the havan in her government office which is against the Constitution of India as well as Service Rules. Hence, we submitted a memorandum to that effect to the Collector, CM and Governor,” said Pandya.
Pandya added that the Collector has assured him that religious activities would not take place in government offices. It is expected that the Collector would take up the matter in the next meeting of revenue officers.
However, as on Friday, there has been no formal written advisory by the Collector nor any action against the Deputy Collector.
Notably, Dharohar, the annual fair organised by Lok Mela Samiti headed by the Rajkot District Collector, was ultimately called off due to torrential rain and issues over permissions for rides in light of the recent TRP Game Zone fire and the lack of any senior fire officials to inspect them in the Rajkot city or district.
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