West Bengal Lok Bhavan to hold first state-level essay competition for school, college students

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Lok Bhavan will hold its first state-level essay competition for school, college and university students, a senior official said on Sunday. The competition will be open to students studying in educational institutions in West Bengal, with entries invited in both English and Bengali, he said.

"For school students of Classes X to XII, the topic in English is 'Calcutta Massacre, 1946 – Causes and Consequences', while college and university students will write on 'Direct Action Day by All India Muslim League – A Fatal Assault on Civilisational Bharat'," a Lok Bhavan statement said.

"The first prize for school students is Rs 50,000, followed by Rs 35,000 and Rs 25,000 for the second and third prizes, respectively," it said. In the college and university category, the first prize carries Rs 1 lakh, while the second and third prizes are Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively.

The prizes would be awarded separately for essays submitted in English and Bengali in each category, the statement said. Entries would be evaluated on the basis of "depth of research, factual accuracy, originality of thought, analytical depth, coherence and quality of expression", it said.

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Submission by November 15

"Plagiarism, copying or reproducing material without due acknowledgement, as well as the use of AI-generated content or generative AI tools for writing the essay, have been strictly prohibited," it said. Entries have to reach on or before November 15.

The winners will be felicitated on January 26, 2027, during the 'At Home Reception' at Lok Bhavan, the official said. Criticising the initiative, leader of the Mamata Banerjee faction of TMC, Kunal Ghosh, and CPI(M)'s Sujan Chakraborty accused the governor of acting like a representative of the BJP instead of upholding the Constitution. Ghosh said the governor's role was not to "propagate" the BJP's political narrative.

"The main responsibility of the Lok Bhavan is to monitor whether the Constitution is being properly followed in the state. The governor is expected to discharge his duties as a representative of the Constitution," Chakraborty said. "If the governor, instead of acting as a representative of the Centre or the Constitution, behaves like a representative of the BJP and tries to promote its political objectives, then questions arise about the relevance of this post," he added.