Durga Puja this year is going to feel different. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari sat down with hundreds of puja organisers at Milan Mela grounds on Monday and laid out a clear set of rules. Some will cheer, some will grumble, but the message was straightforward: the festival stays big, the excesses get cut back.
First, the money. Last year under the Trinamool government every registered committee got Rs 1.10 lakh. Adhikari said that practice is over for the big ones. “I had said the state will not give dole for big Durga pujas,” he told the gathering. “Big-budget pujas please don’t take government aid. I will thank you separately.” Those who genuinely cannot organise without help can still apply for Rs 1 lakh. Applications go through local police stations, get scrutinised, and the money reaches them before Shashthi if approved. He made it optional. No one is forced to take it, and those who can manage on their own are asked to step aside.
That change alone will save the state a large sum. Earlier the grant covered nearly 44,000 committees and cost several hundred crores. Adhikari argued the earlier system created dependency and did not even help electorally. Smaller neighbourhood committees in villages and modest localities, where budgets hover around Rs 5-10 lakh, will still get support. The big clubs with corporate sponsors and multi-crore themes are expected to manage themselves.
Then came the announcement that will hit everyday life hardest: a complete dry day on Maha Ashtami. All liquor shops and bars across the state will stay shut on 19 October. “On the day when devotees offer anjali to Maa Durga, all liquor shops in the state will remain closed. There will be no liquor available in bars either,” Adhikari said. For years shops stayed open from Shashthi to Navami. This year Ashtami joins Dashami as a dry day. People who like a drink with their evening adda will have to plan ahead.
DJ music is also out. No thumping speakers at the pandals and none during immersion processions. The idea is to keep the atmosphere closer to the traditional festival and reduce noise complaints and law-and-order issues. National highways cannot be blocked for pandals. In Kolkata a list of major roads, including Red Road and several key thoroughfares, will stay open. Immersion has to finish by 24 October, a day before Lakshmi Puja. Cranes will not be allowed to pull idols out of the water after immersion; the chief minister said the dignity of the idol must be protected.
The famous Red Road carnival that used to parade selected idols after Dashami is gone. Adhikari called it something that had been imposed in recent years. In its place the government will organise a four-hour cultural programme at Eden Gardens on Mahalaya. Drones, fireworks, visual effects – the works. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend. Roadshows and smaller cultural events are planned in Kolkata and six other cities. Special tours for senior citizens and differently-abled people are also on the cards.
There are some practical reliefs for organisers. Electricity will be free for the duration of the puja – both WBSEDCL and CESC have agreed. Fire safety licences will be issued without charge. Advertisement tax on hoardings is waived. A new single-window portal called Sahaj is meant to make all clearances simpler so committees no longer need to run to court for basic permissions.
Adhikari also asked organisers not to open pandals before Mahalaya and to keep themes respectful of the festival’s cultural and religious character. He apologised during the same meeting for a government advertisement that showed Goddess Durga with eleven arms instead of the traditional ten, saying those responsible had been cautioned and the government would be more careful.
The overall tone was that Durga Puja remains the biggest festival of Bengal, but the state will not treat it as a free-for-all or an electoral freebie. Smaller committees that need a hand will get it. Larger ones are expected to stand on their own. The streets stay more open, the nights stay quieter, and Ashtami stays dry.
Organisers present at the meeting largely took the announcements in their stride. Some from high-budget clubs said they never depended on the grant anyway and welcomed the free electricity. Others from smaller committees said the Rs 1 lakh after scrutiny is better than uncertainty. How the new rules play out on the ground will become clear only when the first pandals go up after Mahalaya.
Sources: NDTV, The Statesman, The Telegraph, The Hindu, India Today, The Week, News18, LiveMint (reports dated 7 September 2026) all the reports.
Dry Day, Grants Cut: Suvendu Adhikari’s Big-Ticket Changes For Durga Puja
Durga Puja this year is going to feel different. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari sat down with hundreds of puja organisers at Milan Mela grounds on Monday and laid out a clear set of rules. Some will cheer, some will grumble, but the message was straightforward: the festival stays big, the excesses get cut back.
First, the money. Last year under the Trinamool government every registered committee got Rs 1.10 lakh. Adhikari said that practice is over for the big ones. “I had said the state will not give dole for big Durga pujas,” he told the gathering. “Big-budget pujas please don’t take government aid. I will thank you separately.” Those who genuinely cannot organise without help can still apply for Rs 1 lakh. Applications go through local police stations, get scrutinised, and the money reaches them before Shashthi if approved. He made it optional. No one is forced to take it, and those who can manage on their own are asked to step aside.
That change alone will save the state a large sum. Earlier the grant covered nearly 44,000 committees and cost several hundred crores. Adhikari argued the earlier system created dependency and did not even help electorally. Smaller neighbourhood committees in villages and modest localities, where budgets hover around Rs 5-10 lakh, will still get support. The big clubs with corporate sponsors and multi-crore themes are expected to manage themselves.
Then came the announcement that will hit everyday life hardest: a complete dry day on Maha Ashtami. All liquor shops and bars across the state will stay shut on 19 October. “On the day when devotees offer anjali to Maa Durga, all liquor shops in the state will remain closed. There will be no liquor available in bars either,” Adhikari said. For years shops stayed open from Shashthi to Navami. This year Ashtami joins Dashami as a dry day. People who like a drink with their evening adda will have to plan ahead.
DJ music is also out. No thumping speakers at the pandals and none during immersion processions. The idea is to keep the atmosphere closer to the traditional festival and reduce noise complaints and law-and-order issues. National highways cannot be blocked for pandals. In Kolkata a list of major roads, including Red Road and several key thoroughfares, will stay open. Immersion has to finish by 24 October, a day before Lakshmi Puja. Cranes will not be allowed to pull idols out of the water after immersion; the chief minister said the dignity of the idol must be protected.
The famous Red Road carnival that used to parade selected idols after Dashami is gone. Adhikari called it something that had been imposed in recent years. In its place the government will organise a four-hour cultural programme at Eden Gardens on Mahalaya. Drones, fireworks, visual effects – the works. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend. Roadshows and smaller cultural events are planned in Kolkata and six other cities. Special tours for senior citizens and differently-abled people are also on the cards.
There are some practical reliefs for organisers. Electricity will be free for the duration of the puja – both WBSEDCL and CESC have agreed. Fire safety licences will be issued without charge. Advertisement tax on hoardings is waived. A new single-window portal called Sahaj is meant to make all clearances simpler so committees no longer need to run to court for basic permissions.
Adhikari also asked organisers not to open pandals before Mahalaya and to keep themes respectful of the festival’s cultural and religious character. He apologised during the same meeting for a government advertisement that showed Goddess Durga with eleven arms instead of the traditional ten, saying those responsible had been cautioned and the government would be more careful.
The overall tone was that Durga Puja remains the biggest festival of Bengal, but the state will not treat it as a free-for-all or an electoral freebie. Smaller committees that need a hand will get it. Larger ones are expected to stand on their own. The streets stay more open, the nights stay quieter, and Ashtami stays dry.
Organisers present at the meeting largely took the announcements in their stride. Some from high-budget clubs said they never depended on the grant anyway and welcomed the free electricity. Others from smaller committees said the Rs 1 lakh after scrutiny is better than uncertainty. How the new rules play out on the ground will become clear only when the first pandals go up after Mahalaya.
Sources: NDTV, The Statesman, The Telegraph, The Hindu, India Today, The Week, News18, LiveMint (reports dated 7 September 2026) all the reports.
@Rohit Manral
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