As many as 45,336 Puja committees in the state received Rs 498 crore in grants in 2024 from Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government, which also arranged for security, water supply and fire safety and offered an 80 per cent rebate on electricity tariffs.
Not to be outdone, the BJP government, which took over four months ago, first declared a grant of Rs 5 lakh to each of the organisers behind the annual chariot festival, the Jagannath Rathyatra, this year. It also announced that Durga Puja committees would receive grants at the discretion of the government and only if they really needed the assistance.
The TMC government had justified the expenditure by claiming that Durga Puja provided an enormous economic opportunity and direct or indirect employment to millions of people. The government had claimed the festival generated activities worth Rs 80,000 crore and contributed five per cent to the state’s GDSP.
A section of civil society is hopeful that this year’s celebrations will not be as disruptive as is generally expected. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar need public goodwill to win the local body elections, which are slated for later this year. There has been enough disruption already, with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation having been placed under an IAS officer. With elected corporators missing, people have been complaining of garbage piling up, potholes growing on roads, and waterlogging in the lanes.
The BJP will not court more disruption, at least not this year, seems to be the general hope.
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