Casting a shadow

With puja committees forsaking sponsorships from chit fund companies, the festivities in Kolkata may wear muted tones this year

The multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam is likely to cast a pall over Durga puja festivities this year. In the past companies such as Saradha and Rose Valley would generously offer funds to puja committees in Kolkata. However, this year, with SEBI upping the ante on fraudulent companies, organisers are forsaking any association with these firms. The puja of Agradut Udaya Sangha in South Kolkata is quite popular, given that it takes place in the state Sports Minister Madan Mitra's neighbourhood. The budget for the festivities has shot up from Rs 6 lakh in 2010 to Rs 35 lakh this year. However, members of the club deny ever approaching any chit fund company for sponsorships. "Our members generously donate money for the puja and most of the sponsors want to associate with the puja for branding," says club secretary Swapan Roy. It is the event organisers that approach Roy on behalf of the sponsoring company for stalls and banner bookings. "Hence we are not directly in contact with companies, chit fund or otherwise," he says. The club in previous years has received sponsorships from companies like Rose Valley and so on.

The committee of Naktala Udayan Sangha that organises the puja for the state's Minister for Industries Partha Chatterjee also denies taking any money from the tainted companies. "We are very cautious as we don't wanted to use any illegal money made from fraudulent schemes," informs general secretary Bappaditya Dasgupta. The club shot to stardom in 2011 when it designed the pandal in the form of a mythic bird from 100 cubic feet of mahogany wood while the idol was crafted from 550 kg of brass. The official budget figure was upwards of Rs 30 lakh but many say it was more than Rs 50 lakh.

Tapati Guha Thakurta, professor of history at Kolkata's Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, has done extensive research on Durga puja and the social aspects associated with it. She believes that the mushrooming of chit fund companies in the past two years, together with the political poribortan in Bengal, has led to even lesser known clubs allocating huge funds for the puja. "The state ministers who are associated with such pujas suddenly witnessed increase in the overall budget, thus allowing them to compete with the old and famous ones," says Guha Thakurta. She also informs that at many such pujas, which won several competitions, the artists craftsmen haven't been paid yet.

Bhaskar Nandy, general secretary of the Singhi Park puja says that only 2 per cent of their total budget came from the so-called chit fund companies. "Being one of the oldest pujas in Kolkata, Singhi Park never had dearth of big multinationals approaching it for branding. Hence we never had to bank on the local chit fund companies," informs Nandi.

Similarly Ballygunge Cultural Association, which is celebrating its 63rd puja with an estimated budget of Rs 45 lakh, also denies association with chit fund companies.

Officials from Rose Valley, one of the companies banned by SEBI, say that Durga puja is one of the most awaited festivals for all brands. "Last year, the company spent Rs 15 lakh on sponsorships," informs Indranil Paul, general manager (corporate communication). "We have a 24-hour news channel named News Time for which we have to sponsor a couple of pujas like Sreebhumi, Bagbajar et cetera for TV rights," he says. The company adds that it has now reduced puja activities under the Rose Valley brand.

Similarly, P Manna of another such company, MPS Group, says that due to the SEBI clampdown they are not participating in any form of branding or sponsorship for this year. "Last year we had put up some stalls in some of the puja pandals with the combined budget of Rs 1.5 lakh, but we have no plans for this year," says Manna. Certainly, it seems that the divine has also forsaken the fraudulent.