Kolkata, West Bengal’s Durga Puja commercial landscape was marked by uneven gains this year, with large puja organisers, malls, organised retailers and e-commerce platforms reporting brisk business, while smaller puja committees, traditional markets and hawkers struggled to keep pace.
“There is a push by the government that is not favourable to small retailers or hawkers. The government in Bengal is looking for big capital and is trying to protect its interests. While government data showed 13,000 more pujas being organised this year than last, the divide between big-budget celebrations and smaller community pujas remained stark. Kajol Sarkar, an office-bearer of the Forum for Durgotsab, an umbrella body representing over 550 community Durga Puja committees in Kolkata, Howrah and their suburbs, said advertisers were concentrating on specific routes rather than spreading their spending across locations. Around 30 per cent of outdoor advertising slots at smaller pujas remained vacant, according to him. Siddharth Pansari, managing director of Primarc Projects Private Limited, said the company’s mall recorded around 17 per cent growth in footfall over the 45-day pre-Puja period compared with last year. Pointing out that the MSME sector provides employment to around 600 million people, Kar said the government should be proactive in protecting small businesses, which are less prone to international shocks.
Because these areas fall within Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s Bhabanipur constituency, park Street, Camac Street and Theatre Road emerged as key advertising hubs, partly.
CWBTA president Sushil Poddar said the issue was not the growth of e-commerce itself, but the large difference in prices offered by online and offline sellers. There is a concerted effort to sideline small traders and hawkers by the new dispensation,” Kar said.
