West Bengal has launched the Green Durga Puja Excellence Awards 2026, a state-wide competition that will assess puja committees on waste segregation, sustainable materials, environmental awareness and community participation during the festival.
Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Paul announced the initiative on Thursday at a press conference at Nagaryan Bhavan in Salt Lake. The awards are being organised through the State Urban Development Agency (SUDA), with the government asking puja committees across the state to make environmental responsibility a central part of their celebrations.
The competition will have four categories: Best Green Puja, Best Clean and Waste-Smart Puja, Best Awareness Initiative and Community Engagement Award. The Best Green Puja category will assess the use of environment-friendly materials in pandals and idols, energy-efficient lighting and responsible immersion practices.
The Clean and Waste-Smart category will focus on scientific waste collection and segregation, waste management and cleanliness around puja premises. The awareness category will recognise campaigns dealing with issues such as plastic pollution and water conservation. The Community Engagement Award will cover activities including tree plantation, participation by self-help groups and efforts to acknowledge the contribution of sanitation workers.
“We do not want to reward only the appearance of a puja. We want to recognise the responsibility shown by puja committees towards the environment and the community,” Paul said, according to the announcement.
The minister also said the government wanted the festival to become more closely linked to civic responsibility. “We want the worship of the divine to become an inclusive, environment-friendly and citizen-centric social movement,” she said.
Evaluation will be conducted through a dedicated Green Durga Puja Evaluation App. Committees will be assessed at municipal, district and state levels, with entries shortlisted at the district level moving to the state-level evaluation. The government said it had already received a large number of applications and wanted the announcement to reach committees in every district.
The award structure includes Rs 1 lakh for the state-level winner, while the first and second runners-up will receive Rs 80,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively. The best puja committee in each district will receive Rs 25,000, a certificate and an environment-friendly memento.
The initiative places waste segregation and cleanliness within the administrative framework of festival management, rather than treating green practices only as voluntary decoration measures. Its evaluation system will require committees to be assessed across different levels of local government, although the announcement did not specify the detailed scoring criteria or implementation schedule for the app.
Paul said winning committees would subsequently serve as Green Community Ambassadors in their localities for one year. Their role will include promoting environmental protection and civic responsibility after the competition concludes.
