Bengal CM�s announcement to hike Durga Puja donations draws ire

Kolkata, July 24 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement to increase the annual donations for 43,000 clubs organising community Durga Pujas from Rs 70,000 for each to Rs 85,000 has drawn the ire from all quarters.

BJP councillor in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Sajal Ghosh, who is also a principal organiser of the famous Santosh Mitra Square Puja committee in central Kolkata, said that like the last three years, they will not be accepting the dole from the state government this year as well.

According to him, Durga Pujas have been organised in the state even before such donations were introduced. “We do not want our club to be a party in this utter wastage of money from the state exchequer and that too at a time when the state government is not able to meet essential expenditure for development,” Ghosh said.

West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said that the Chief Minister could have announced such donations to clubs after ensuring payment of enhanced DA to the state government employees, filling up the vacant state government posts or taking steps to reduce the power tariffs in the state.

Besides announcing the hike of Rs 15,000 for each club, the Chief Minister on Tuesday directed the two power distribution utilities -- WBSEDCL and CESC Limited -- to increase the concession in power supply to the community Puja committees from 66 per cent last year to 75 per cent this time.

Now this has led to apprehension that the power utilities might generate exorbitant bills for ordinary consumers in October and November to recover the losses from the concessions given to Puja committees.

As per initial estimates, the total outflow of the dole package will be to the tune of Rs 500 crore, including Rs 365 crore as donations to 43,000 puja committees, out of which around 3,000 are in Kolkata while the remaining are spread across the state.

Some economic analysts feel that such enhancement in annual donations to the community puja committees is a wasteful expenditure, saying the state government should instead concentrate more on asset-creating capital expenditures, besides reducing avoidable revenue expenditures.

The cash crunch in the state exchequer was evident in the recent decision of the state government to go for the rationalisation of manpower instead of fresh recruitment.

In a report last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) expressed concern over the increase in revenue expenditure in West Bengal resulting in a sharp increase in revenue deficit.

The CAG report also raised questions about the budgetary management of the West Bengal government by pointing out the instances of huge excess expenditure under several grants.