West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced a hike in the honorarium for community Durga Pujas, increasing it to ₹85,000 per puja committee from ₹70,000 last year.
“Today, the Union Budget was presented and West Bengal got nothing,” the Chief Minister said at a meeting with Puja organisers at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium. In the same vein, she added that “even amidst great adversity, the State government does not ignore festivities”.
“I hope this honorarium will be sufficient this year. We are a poor government after all,” she quipped.
The honorarium, which will be granted to over 40,000 community Durga Pujas, will cost the state exchequer more than ₹340 crore.
The Chief Minister also announced that the honorarium for Puja organisers will be increased to ₹1 lakh per puja committee in 2025. “If this year we could hike the grant by ₹15,000, then next year we will increase the grant to ₹1 lakh. I am declaring it in advance,” she said, drawing loud applause from the attendees.
In the meeting, Ms. Banerjee emphasised that some of the concessions given last year will also be given to committees this year. Those include exemptions like a waiver for fire brigade fees and a 75% rebate on electricity costs for Puja committees.
Moreover, she announced that immersion of Durga idols will take place between October 13 and October 14, and the Durga Puja carnival will be held on October 15 this year.
Safety measures
The Chief Minister also directed the police to set up mobile patrolling teams, quick response teams, drone monitoring, watch towers and 24x7 control rooms for the safety of people during Durga Puja.
She also instructed Durga Puja organisers to share the themes of their Pujas this year with Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar to ensure robust coordination. “Please ensure that no stampedes take place, or that flights are not affected by lasers,” she told Puja organisers and police officials.
The Chief Minister also underlined the importance of taking special measures for disabled and aged people during Durga Puja and keeping different entry and exit points for evacuation in case of emergencies.
“Puja committees must cooperate. Any mishap will lead to blacklisting of the Puja committee, which will make that Puja ineligible for any sponsorships,” she said on Tuesday. She also directed that traffic movement should stay unaffected during Durga Puja, and airport access should not be curtailed because of any Durga Puja crowd.
Opposition questions move
However, Opposition parties expressed their disapproval towards the Trinamool Congress government’s decision to hike the honorarium. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sajal Ghosh told local media persons that a secular government should not give money to religious festivals. “In the last few years, the West Bengal government spent close to ₹600 crore in Durga Puja honorariums. That is the budget in which Chandrayaan was sent to the moon,” Mr. Ghosh pointed out. He added that as someone who is also involved in a Durga Puja committee, he does not avail the honorarium himself and does not support this grant, especially for affluent Durga Puja committees.
“This lumpen-kari government is spending taxpayers’ money on religious festivals, at a time when State-run primary schools are shutting down and midday meals are being stopped,” Rajya Sabha MP and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said. He opined that Durga Puja organisers should give back the honorarium to the government.
