Will new Bengal govt continue with Durga Puja grants? CM indicates only need-based help

Durga Puja, West Bengal’s biggest festival, is around four months away, and the question which is doing the rounds the most: Will the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government extend grants to puja organisers across the state, as was the tradition when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) was in power?

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On Friday (June 12), Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari indicated how things would be during his time in governance. Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata, he said the grants introduced during his predecessor’s era may continue, but they would be need-based.

In other words, only organisers who genuinely require financial assistance would get the financial aid. His stance suggests a possible policy shift in what is one of the most closely watched political grants in the state.

“Those who do not need government money need not be given grants. The government will stand by those who cannot organise Durga Puja without financial support,” the chief minister said.

Mamata started Puja grants with Rs 10k

Started by the previous government in 2018 with assistance of Rs 10,000 per committee, the cultural grant turned into one of the state’s most high-profile and politically significant expenditures over the years. Mamata increased the grant amounts steadily over the years. Last year, the final one under her rule, the grant amount reached Rs 1.10 lakh per puja committee. Besides, the government also offered a major 80 per cent rebate on electricity charges for the organisers.

TMC faced criticism over Puja grants

Reports said the grant amount in 2025 saw the state’s coffers turning thinner by Rs 500 crore. The BJP, which was then in opposition, criticised the decision. It was alleged that the TMC government gave the grants to buy votes by influencing local clubs and indulging in politics of religion, besides misprioritising areas of expenditures and misusing public money.

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With nearly 44,000 committees receiving the assistance last year, the scheme had grown into a major fiscal commitment as well as an important political outreach programme.

Critics had often questioned why some of Kolkata's biggest pujas, with budgets running into several crores of rupees and substantial corporate sponsorship, should receive the same government assistance as small neighbourhood committees dependent on local contributions.

Suvendu, however, did not announce any immediate policy change and stressed that the matter was yet to be formally discussed within the government.

“We have not started discussions on this issue yet. The Information and Cultural Affairs Department is with me. There is a minister of state. We will certainly discuss the matter,” he said.

Politicisation of Durga Puja

The Durga Puja grant issue carries political significance in Bengal, where the festival is not only the state's biggest cultural one but also a major arena of political engagement. There were also instances where many organisers refused to accept the grants as a mark of solidarity with public protests, like those held in the wake of a rape-murder case in a government medical institution in Kolkata in August 2014.

The grants were initially rolled out as Bengal's political discourse increasingly revolved around questions of identity, faith and cultural symbolism.

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While the BJP accused the TMC of minority appeasement, the Mamata Banerjee government sought to reinforce its association with Durga Puja through a state-backed programme.

Over time, the scheme became one of the state's most politically debated subsidies. Critics saw it as an exercise in political patronage, while the TMC projected it as support for a festival that lies at the heart of Bengal's cultural calendar and has since earned UNESCO recognition, for which Mamata also claimed credit. She also started a post-Puja carnival in Kolkata’s Red Road, which witnessed a vibrant parade of the city’s best Durga idols, cultural performances, and traditional 'Dhunuchi' dances marking the ceremonial immersion of the Goddess and the ultimate celebration of Bengaliness.

Will the practices stop under the BJP government?

Soon after assuming office, the saffron government had discontinued religion-linked allowances introduced by the previous administration, prompting speculation over whether the Durga Puja grants would face a similar fate.

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As far as the smaller organisers are concerned, CM Suvendu’s remarks are likely to reassure them, while also signalling that affluent clubs may no longer automatically qualify for state assistance.

Questions are also being raised about the future of some of Kolkata's major Durga Pujas, held under the patronage of some of the TMC's major leaders and former ministers, after the party has faced a major crisis during and after the elections, with many of its prominent faces facing the law.