Several Durga Puja organisers in Kolkata including a few patronised by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders until last year will forgo the ₹ 1 lakh festival-related state grant following an appeal made by West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari.
A handful of puja committees have also decided to donate an equal amount of ₹ 1 lakh to the chief minister’s relief fund.
The state government’s tradition of giving grants to community pujas created a dependency and expectation among the organisers. I don’t want to impose any restrictions. “On moral grounds, we have decided not to apply for the state grant. “As this year, the carnival (a procession to display the idols on a prominent Kolkata road) has been cancelled, we would be saving the money. “We believe that there are many small-budget pujas which should get this fund. “The chief minister has made an appeal to the big-ticket pujas. We have decided to forgo the state grant.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government reduced the state government’s grant to community Durga Pujas in the state from ₹ 110,000 given by the previous Mamata Banerjee-administration in 2025 to ₹ 100,000 this year. “A puja committee needs to have a minimum budget of ₹ 10 lakh to organise Durga Puja in the cities and around ₹ 5 lakh in the villages. Until last year we had to bear additional financial burden as arrangements had to be made for the puja carnival, started by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee,” said Kajal Sarkar a member of 77-year-old Bosepukur Sitala Mandir Durga Puja. By waiving the power bill and the fire license fees, the chief minister has saved us more than ₹ 2 lakhs,” said Anirban Ghosh, secretary of the 61-year-old Behala Friends Club puja. Instead, we have plans to hand over a cheque of an equal amount of ₹ 1 lakh to the chief minister as a donation to his relief fund when he comes to inaugurate our puja,” said Kinshuk Moitra, assistant secretary of Suruchi Sangha, which had a budget of more than 50 lakh in 2025.
I am keeping the grant but at the same time would appeal to big budget pujas not to avail it,” Adhikari said earlier this week. Also, the power bill has been waived entirely,” Sarkar said.
Adhikari had earlier cancelled the carnival.
