‘85k puja grant to be used for security and festivities’
Times of India | 25 July 2024
Kolkata: Several small and mid-level puja committees have welcomed CM Mamata Banerjee’s decision to increase the grant to Rs 85,000, saying the increased allocation will help them scale up festivities, donate to the underprivileged and improve security and crowd management at the pandals.
Many organizers felt the increased grant this year will amount to 20%-30% of the total budget, giving them the space to spend on logistics, like crowd management and security features, including setting up more CCTV cameras and engaging volunteers.
“The grant of Rs 85,000 is almost 15% of our total Durga Puja budget and is going to help us scale up the celebrations and engage in more philanthropic activities during the festival. We have decided to utilize a portion of the grant to donate clothes, books and food to the underprivileged and use the rest to organize more cultural functions,” said Pushkar Mukherjee, organizing secretary of 47 Pally Jubak Brinda Durga Puja Committee off Central Avenue.
Several small pujas that have been around for decades hardly get sponsorship due to their locations or because they stay away from themed celebrations. “For some of these pujas, the grant amount is almost half their total budget. We will use the money to embellish the pandal and also donate clothes to a few orphanages,” said Bittu Saha, secretary of a puja committee on Madan Mohan Burman Street off MG Road.
The organizers of the puja in Mohammad Ali Park said the grant will help their puja which is struggling to survive. The organizers had to restrict the celebrations after a portion of the park caved in a few years ago. The budget of the puja has also decreased by almost 75%.
“The committee members pay around Rs 4 lakh-Rs 5 lakh from their pockets every year because we were forced to curtail the scale of the puja due to the cave in. The grant amount is very generous, and we are going to use it to scale up festivities and donate books and clothes to the underprivileged,” said Ashok Ojha, joint secretary of the Mohammad Ali Park Durga Puja committee.
“The grant will not only boost the spending capacity of individual committees but also contribute to the Durga Puja creative economy,” said Kajal Sarkar, president of Forum for Durgotsab.