Somnath Chhaterjee to kick off year-long Bengali cultural event

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chhaterjee will next week kick off a year-long cultural event of a city-based Bengali organisation celebrating its golden jubilee anniversary in New Delhi.

Chhaterjee, who is the chief patron of the Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee of Karol Bagh Bangiya Samsad will be inaugurating the main programme on December 28 at Gandhi Memorial Hall.

"We are the first social organisation in Delhi who did not have connection with any religious activity. Our focus of work is in the arena of culture, education, social service. The aspect of national integration was always in our minds," president of Karolbagh Bangiya Samsad Bholanath Banerjee said while talking to reporters.

Banerjee recalled how "prominent personalities and parliamentarians like VK Krishna Menom, J Krishna Iyer, AK Gopalan, S Kripalini in the past have actively taken part in the public rallies for generating funds during natural disasters.

Established in 1958, the organisation has various social and cultural units that include library, schools, social service unit and others.