Cultural stakeholders divided over State funding for Divali Nagar

The con­tro­ver­sy over fund­ing for Di­vali Na­gar 2026 has re­newed calls for a clear na­tion­al cul­tur­al pol­i­cy, amid dif­fer­ing views on how the Gov­ern­ment should sup­port cul­tur­al and re­li­gious events and whether such fund­ing should be guar­an­teed or sub­ject to con­di­tions.

While Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar main­tains that cut­ting fund­ing for Di­vali Na­gar is fair, giv­en pre­vi­ous cuts to oth­er events, cul­tur­al con­sul­tant Omari Ash­by ar­gues that fair­ness should be based on eq­ui­table rather than equal fund­ing.

Full coverageSponsors Withdraw Support for Divali Nagar as NCIC Seeks Funding35 reports

The de­bate comes as bmo­bile, Na­tion­al Flour Mills, First Cit­i­zens Bank and Caribbean Air­lines have with­drawn spon­sor­ship from the Na­tion­al Coun­cil of In­di­an Cul­ture’s (NCIC) Di­vali Na­gar, which is ex­pect­ed to cost about $5 mil­lion. The coun­cil is seek­ing about $1 mil­lion from the Gov­ern­ment.