‘Coronasura’ Slays India’s Durga Puja Economy
Arpita Bhattacharjee, an art school teacher by profession, used to splurge on apparel, shoes, cosmetics, ornaments, etc. worth Rs. 20,000-25,000 every year. But this year, she took a prudent decision to save some money for future contingency. “As we are teaching from home these days, the necessity to buy flashy clothes for outdoor visits is not there. Furthermore, I am not actively into makeups these days as we are wearing masks when we are stepping out. Moreover, I have cut down my expenditure as my salary was also deducted post lockdown. So, it is better to preserve some cash until the vaccine is available,” Bhattacharjee told BW Businessworld recently.
Dr. Bhavna Saha, who works as Content Head & Concepts for corporate event industry, does occasional shopping for clothes, accessory, jewellery, bags, etc., from various street markets and shopping malls. But on the traditional festive occasion this year, her shopping budget was paltry at Rs. 13-15K (approx) and that too for gifting her family members. “On a broader spectrum, to sum up the reflection, this time Durga puja shopping verses every year would be 1:3 ratio,” stated Saha.
Arpita and Bhavna resonate the doom and gloom that is palpable amongst millions of Bengalis who celebrate Durga Puja every year across the country and more specifically in West Bengal. But this time it is due to being attacked by an invisible demon called ‘Coronasura’, (‘Corona’ +’Asura’ & used in West Bengal’s parlance nowadays). As Abhishek Addy, Manager- Supply Chain, Walmart India Pvt. Ltd, puts it succinctly, “Goddess Durga has come with all her pomp and glory to her maternal home, but all she finds here is a state of rising corona cases, job losses and economic downturn. With loss of income of so many people, pre-festival shopping has certainly dampened. And this is a vicious cycle, reduction in sales means less earnings for the sellers, who will themselves buy less.”
Given the onslaught of Covid, and the subsequent lockdown, business in almost all forms has taken a big hit all over the country, including West Bengal. Festivities are no exception. Durga Puja, and the spending around it, accounts for a huge chunk of the West Bengal GDP. And this year, as the pandemic still rages on, Puja celebrations have certainly taken a hit. With the High Court judgement of not allowing people inside pandals, this will also affect the street vendors who set up stalls outside the pandals (marquees).
So, what are the estimated losses accumulated by the Durga Puja economy due to the Corona-induced slowdown? Atanu Biswas, Professor (HAG), Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) maintains,” Durga Puja economy will be severely hit – no doubt about that. First, millions have lost their jobs. And, overall, the earnings of many people have been reduced. This would certainly impact upon their purchasing power also. The accumulated losses might be tens of thousands of crores of rupees – it might even be more than one lakh crore (i.e. one billion) rupees or so.”
Multinational brands, across industry verticals, have piggybacked on the Puja sentiment through a mix of above-the-line and on-ground activities and this, interestingly, isn’t an industry-specific phenomenon. But this year, most of the brands have opted out. Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, 82.5 Communications is of the firm view that Durga Puja advertising has been badly affected by Covid-19.
“Festival related ad spends on certain general entertainment channels may be as high as 75% of last year’s spends—surprisingly good, under the circumstances—but out of home advertising and on-ground brand activations which are normally huge have taken a drastic hit. There is no pandal branding. There are few takers for outdoor media space and what little of it is sold is at heavy discounts,” revealed Chattopadhyay, who is also an ad guru.
As a corollary to the above trend, many Puja Samitis (committees) have also downsized their budget, given their dwindled corporate sponsorship on the basis of less visitors. For instance, Beliaghata 33 No Pally Durga Puja Committee, slashed its budget from Rs. 58 lakh last year to Rs. 14 lakh this year. Sushanta Saha, secretary of the committee, revealed that 50% of the earmarked amount will be given away as charity to shopkeepers who are unable to sell their wares due to Covid restrictions.
Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee from North Calcutta, which is famous for running one of the most opulent pandals in the country, has also scaled down its previous year’s budget from Rs. 1.2 crore by 50% to Rs. 55-60 lakh this year. Out of the said amount, the protima (idol) cost was cut down by nearly 50% from Rs. 3.5- 4 lakh last year to Rs. 2.5 lakh this year. Sajal Ghosh, General Secretary, Santosh Mitra Puja Committee stated, “Since the general public is strictly prohibited (due to Covid protocol), Corporate sponsorships have also backed out this time around. As a result, we have deployed the whole amount from the proceeds of last year’s earnings (through donations and advertisements).”
With Puja committees downscaling their marquees for this festival, the income of idol makers, labourers, artistes (doing stage shows), theme artists, decorators, Craftsmen, electricians, material suppliers, dhakis (traditional drummers) and sundry professionals have also taken a major hit. For instance, Ghanshyam Bodhoi, a third generation dhaki drummer from Midnapore, West Bengal, was comfortably quoting Rs. 10,000-15,000 (excluding travel and accommodation expenses) to perform at the most sought-after Pandals in Delhi. But now, he is happy to perform for less than Rs. 10,000 (excluding other expenses) from any Puja organiser in any city of India.
Likewise, Kolkata-based music band ‘Paridhi’, which used to perform at numerous cultural events in Delhi, NCR since 2015, used to comfortably quote Rs. 50,000 (excluding food and lodging) per show. But now, this band is resorting to digital concerts (due to travel restrictions) at 45-50% of the previous rates in order to keep itself afloat. Souptik Mazumder, Multi-instrumentalist from the aforesaid band revealed, “This is one genuine time of the year when we actually make money from live stage shows. Post the lockdown, we are now thriving on funds that we have created through our past earnings. In the interim, we are doing digital concerts for Durga Pujas in Calcutta, and even for US. But definitely, what we are receiving is just 45-50% of the amount we used to earn during physical events (stage shows). We have to compromise that much to keep the show running.”
Potters and artisans, who make customized idols, are also fending for themselves. Not even Puja organizers have apprised them to downsize the height & width of the idol (in order to abide by Covid protocol), but are also entreating for hefty discounts due to strained resources. Kanchi Pal, an artisan who runs a Pottery studio in Kumortuli (a traditional potters' quarter in North Kolkata), reveals that in 2019, she had bagged an order of 60 mega idols from across the globe. But this year, the studio is struggling to make even 20 idols and that too for the domestic market. Another eminent artisan, Madhu Pal, maintained that he couldn’t hike the prices of the idol even though the product’s input costs have surged manifold. To add to his woes, his export orders have also dropped by 70%.
“Those who are working within Kumortuli are also not paying adequately because of shortage of capital. So naturally, an idol worth Rs. 1 lakh was brought down to Rs. 50,000. In these times, they are selling idol for even Rs. 20,000. Apart from the government’s directive, another reason for this move is that larger idols need more labourers to carry, and there is a shortage of skilled manpower this year, “reveals Professor Arup Ratan Acharjee, who had made documentary films on potters.
