Durga Puja in BHUBANESWAR ORISSA

Voluntary donors make it big
V Lalita I ENS
03 Oct 2008 09:53:00 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: Durga puja, the much awaited nine-day festival also brings with it the hassles of donations - where the donor is at the mercy of the organisations. Refusal entails retribution. In this scenario, the opportunity to donate voluntarily only comes as a blessing.

While many puja committees depend on business establishments and industrial houses to set up the lavishly decorated pandals with huge colourful deities decked in gold and silver, a committee in Baramunda has left it to the people to make their puja a success.

Sarbajaneena Durga Puja Committee, Ruchika Bazaar at Baramunda, has been getting sufficient voluntary contributions from the locals and people from other areas every year, making the pandal and the deity a must watch.

The idea of accepting voluntary contributions crossed the minds of the organisers of the puja here, started in 1991, with an aim to give the puja its actual worth — a community celebration.
Says AK Panda, secretary of the organisation, in 1991 the community celebration was started by just five persons and Rs 7,000 and it was an instant success in the locality. Two years later the members, mostly from business background or retired people, decided to open an office at the puja pandal site and accept even small amount of donation from people.

The office functions from 9 am to 5 pm and is manned by one of the members who maintains a register with the details of address and the amount donated. ‘‘The response was dull in the first year as people were not aware of the new activity except those in the locality who were informed about it,’’ adds Panda.

Peoples’ participation, however, increased in the following years. This year the committee had a target of Rs 2 lakh and is hopeful of meeting the expenses from peoples’ contributions. The uniqueness lies in the fact that the committee believes in acknowledging all donations. A booklet published every year has the names, addresses and amount donated by a devotee the previous year. Even donations made in kind like ghee or pulses find a place in the booklet besides the amount received and expenses incurred previous year.

Covering the entire Baramunda area, about 7,000 booklets have been distributed this year through 12 shops besides the office at the puja site.
source: http://www.expressbuzz.com