Even when committed expenditures like payment ofwelfare pensionsandfinancial assistanceremain pending, the government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 10.72 crore for organising the Onam week (August 27 to September 2) celebrations in the state capital and all district headquarters, this year.
The highest amount of Rs 2.29 crore will be spent on paying the invited artists and conducting the Onam pageantry. While Rs 2.09 crore will be spent on creating temporary , Rs 97.12 lakh will go towards branding and publicity. An amount of Rs 6.65 crore will be spent in the capital city alone.
Another Rs 3.20 crore will go towards the celebrations conducted by the district tourism promotion councils in the 14 districts.
The governments keenness for the Onam bash this year comes as a surprise as in 2016 the Pinarayi government had issued an order prohibiting government servants from participating in Onam celebrations during duty hours to save government time and Money.