Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday indicated that Durga Puja grants introduced during the Mamata Banerjee era may continue, but only for organisers that genuinely require financial assistance, signalling a possible policy shift in one of the state’s most politically sensitive welfare schemes.
Addressing a press conference here, Adhikari said no final decision had been taken on this year’s grants, but suggested that the BJP government was unlikely to continue the previous regime’s practice of extending uniform assistance to all puja committees irrespective of financial capacity.
"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," he said.
The remarks offer the clearest indication yet of how the new government may approach a scheme that has evolved from a modest cultural grant into one of Bengal’s most high-profile and politically significant expenditures.
Introduced by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in 2018 with an assistance of Rs 10,000 per committee, the grant increased steadily over the years and reached Rs 1.10 lakh per puja committee last year. The state had also extended an 80 per cent rebate on electricity charges for Durga Puja organisers.
With nearly 44,000 committees receiving assistance last year, the scheme has grown into a major fiscal commitment as well as a key political outreach initiative.
Critics have often questioned why some of Kolkata’s biggest pujas, with budgets running into several crores and backed by corporate sponsorships, should receive the same level of government support as smaller neighbourhood committees reliant on local contributions.
"Those who organise pujas on the basis of that financial assistance will receive support. Those who do not require it need not be given it," he said.
The chief minister, however, stopped short of announcing 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.
The issue carries significant political weight in Bengal, where Durga Puja is not only the state’s biggest cultural festival but also a major arena of political messaging.
The grants were introduced in 2018 as the state’s political discourse increasingly revolved around questions of identity, faith and cultural symbolism. While the BJP has accused the Trinamool Congress of minority appeasement, the TMC has projected the initiative as support for a festival central to Bengal’s cultural identity, which has also received UNESCO recognition.
Over time, the scheme became one of the most debated state subsidies, with critics describing it as political patronage, while the TMC defended it as cultural support for Bengal’s most important festival.
Soon after assuming office, the BJP government had discontinued religion-linked allowances introduced by the previous administration, fuelling speculation over whether Durga Puja grants would face similar scrutiny.
Adhikari’s remarks are likely to reassure smaller organisers concerned about losing state support, while signalling that affluent clubs may no longer automatically qualify for assistance.
For now, the future of the grants remains undecided. However, if his comments are any indication, the upcoming Puja season could see a shift from universal assistance to a more selective framework that differentiates between large, well-funded clubs and smaller neighbourhood celebrations.
