TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, Tuesday, October 25, 2011 (newsday.co.tt): The Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism Winston “Gypsy” Peters yesterday distributed checks exceeding US$ 61,000 to three cultural groups for the hosting of this year’s Divali celebrations. The three organizations receiving checks were the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) who received over US$ 20,500, the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) received nearly US$ 37,000 and the Hindu Prachar Kendra received a little over US$ 3,000.
President of the SDMS Sat Maharaj expressed gratitude for the increased amount, saying this year the SDMS has been taking the celebrations to schools and temples. “We hired three Divali big trucks with speakers, so rather than people coming to one central area we are sending the performers out to the temples and schools. So this money we received would really help with the expenses because those trucks are really expensive so again we are just very thankful.”