By NewsDrum Deskt

Kolkata: Not just fun and frolic, Durga Puja in West Bengal is a grand economic affair involving transactions of at least Rs 40,000 crore, creating employment opportunities for around three lakh people, stakeholders said on Monday.

With more than 40,000 community pujas across the state, including 3,000 in Kolkata, the festival creates a scurry of economic activities for three-four months every year, they said.

"The grandeur around the festival involves transactions of not less than Rs 40,000 crore and provides employment to at least two-three lakh people across the state as the activities for the festivities begin three-four months ahead," said Partho Ghosh, the chairman of Forum For Durgatsab (FFD), an umbrella organisation of 400 community pujas.

The puja committees act as facilitators of micro-economy, said Ghosh, who has been associated with community puja for 52 years and is an organiser of Shib Mandir Sarbajanin Durga Puja in south Kolkata.

The five-day festival involves people from different sectors -- those building the pandals, making the idols, electricians, security guards, priests, dhakis, labourers associated with idol transportation, and those linked with the arrangement of 'bhog' and catering, he told PTI.

"We undertake this monumental task for the sake of the general populace and to preserve our culture," Ghosh said.

Not only the core Durga puja activities, but also fashion, textiles, footwear, cosmetics and retail sectors get a boost by the buying-spree of people, while literature and publishing, tour, travel, hotel and restaurant and film and entertainment businesses enjoy a sudden bump in sales during the five-day festival, FFD president Kajal Sarkar said.

"Our guesstimation is that transactions around the festival could be up to Rs 50,000 crore this year," he told PTI.

Read more: https://www.newsdrum.in/business/rs-40000-crore-durga-puja-in-west-bengal-creates-3-lakh-jobs-stakeholders-97462.html