Seven prominent Durga Puja committees in Kolkata have decided not to apply for the West Bengal government’s ₹1 lakh assistance announced for this year’s celebrations, a day after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari appealed to financially strong, big-budget pujas to voluntarily forgo the grant.
The committees that have announced their decision include Santoshpur Lake Pally, Tala Pratyay, Chorbagan Sarbojanin, Naktala Udayan Sangha, Santosh Mitra Square, Phoolbagan Sarbojanin and Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha.
Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha has gone a step further, deciding to contribute ₹1 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund instead. The decision was confirmed by its chairperson and BJP state spokesperson Keya Ghosh.
‘I don’t want misuse of the Chief Minister’s power’
Adhikari announced the grant at a meeting with Durga Puja organisers in Kolkata on Monday. While making the assistance available to smaller committees, he appealed to large and financially self-sufficient pujas not to seek government funds.
“I don’t want misuse of the chief minister’s power,” Adhikari said, urging financially strong committees to stay away from the grant while allowing smaller organisers who genuinely require assistance to avail themselves of it.
The Chief Minister said the government would stand behind committees that could not organise Durga Puja without financial support, while financially capable organisers could raise funds independently.
Committees publicly announce decision
Several of the puja committees announced their decision through social media.
Santoshpur Lake Pally said: “Many thanks to the Hon’ble CM for the announcement. We humbly state that we are not accepting the grant.”
BJP MLA and Santosh Mitra Square puja organiser Sajal Ghosh also said that the committee had not accepted government assistance in previous years and would continue with the same position this year.
The government assistance is intended primarily for smaller puja committees. Organisers seeking the money will have to apply through their respective police stations, after which the applications will be scrutinised and processed through the police administration.
A shift from the previous grant model
The decision comes against the backdrop of a broader debate over the state’s Durga Puja grant. The assistance, introduced by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2018 at ₹10,000 per committee, had risen to ₹1.10 lakh last year. The new BJP government has set this year’s assistance at ₹1 lakh.
The grant has increasingly become a significant state expenditure, with tens of thousands of puja committees receiving assistance. Critics have previously questioned whether large, commercially successful pujas with substantial sponsorships should receive the same support as smaller neighbourhood committees that depend largely on local contributions.
Adhikari’s appeal, and the immediate decision by seven high-profile Kolkata pujas to stay out of the scheme, could therefore signal a move towards a more need-based approach to government funding for Durga Puja.
