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Durga Puja: Economic slowdown dampens festive fervour in Lucknow
Though it is the smaller budget committees that are experiencing maximum difficulty, even the bigger ones are finding the road bumpy.
BM Chakraborty was literally praying for divine intervention before the beginning of Durga Puja.
The secretary of the Bondhu Mahal Durga Puja committee says the situation is unprecedented as economic slowdown has hit them hard. “Economic slowdown has adversely impacted the Durga Puja celebrations, forcing the committee to either curtail its programme or increase collection from members or other sources. Local residents are making small donations and sponsors are giving excuses,” he says.
“On one hand, the prices of all the commodities have gone up, while on the other hand the collection has shrunk. The companies which used to donate freely or sponsor our programmes earlier have refused donation this time for obvious reasons,” he adds.
He said that the prices of vegetables are skyrocketing. Can you imagine a cauliflower costs anything between Rs 35 and 50 per piece? In this scenario the community feast, which we call bhog, will be very costly. The committee will need to shell more money this time.
Chakraborty further said, “To tide over this situation we have doubled the members’ contribution for puja. Earlier, we used to collect Rs 500 but this time contribution fee is Rs 1,000.”
SK Sen, assistant secretary, Bondhu Mahal Samiti said many cultural programmes have been curtailed. “Instead of professionals we have approached some music training centres who are performing in our compound,” he said.
Sanskritik Sammilani, Indira Nagar is also facing financial problems this year. “The support from the corporate sector and big business houses has declined drastically on account of the slowdown. The quantum of donations from the general public also reduced substantially on account of the present market conditions,” said Shubhashish Bhadury, organising secretary, Sanskritik Sammilani, Indira Nagar, Lucknow.
On the other side, the expenditure has increased tremendously, be it for electric load charges or Pandal and tent, vegetables and bhog ingredients. “On account of these hurdles, we had to cut short the budget of pandal, cultural programme and electric illumination. The two areas where the budget has not been reduced are bhog and the idol as we don’t want to compromise with these two age old traditions,” Bhadury said.
Economic slowdown has cast a shadow on Kaiserbagh Youngster’s Association that is organising Durga puja for 29 years. Vishnu Pandey, secretary, Kaiserbagh Youngster’s Association (KYA), said due to the economic slowdown, the collections and donations have decreased by 30%, leaving puja organisers in the lurch.
“The cost of organising the puja has increased. However, due to funds crunch now we are managing from our own resources. Apart from regular donations, the members are now digging into their savings to collect money,” says Vishnu.
His sentiments are echoed by Kalyan Kumar Ghosh, treasurer, Kaiserbagh Youngsters’ Association who laments, “The last time we faced such a situation was during the economic slowdown in 2008 when the markets crashed. This time it is worse. I have urged all the members to pitch in with more cash.”
In addition, to get more money, the association has increased the number of eateries and exhibition stalls. “We are doing whatever we can to conduct the puja with the same fanfare as earlier,” says Ashwini Vaish, KYA. Despite the crunch, the committee will continue distributing bhog on saptami, ashtami and navami.
“In addition to khichri on Saptami and Navami, a special menu comprising pulao, matar paneer, kheer and other delicacies will be given to devotees on mahashtami. “Individual members are sponsoring the bhog components, as our regular sponsors have backed out. We will continue our tradition with Maa Durga’s blessings,” says Vishnu.
Though it is the smaller budget committees that are experiencing maximum difficulty, even the bigger ones are finding the road bumpy. However, the Bengali Club has managed the budget because some of the committed donors made their contribution generously. Mitu Das of Rabindrapalli said they too had to work extra hard to generate resources. “We somehow managed our budget,” he said.
Yet another durga puja committee said they were forced to borrow money from resourceful people. “We are being forced to borrow. Idol makers, decorators and electricians are also finding it tough because they are not getting payment on time from other clubs as well. This has never happened in the recent years,” said finance secretary of a puja samiti who did not wish to be identified.
President of Sarvajanin Durga Puja committee Gomti Nagar, Shubroto Roy said, “This year we faced lot of problems in collecting funds due to the slowdown so the only alternative was to focus more on collection of items like rice, dal, oil ghee etc as donation. We are focusing on reducing the cost of our cultural programmes also.”
