Kumartuli — Kolkata’s famed artisans’ colony where amateur photographers rub shoulders with curious tourists most of the year for a closer look at under-construction idols — is deserted.
In the very few sheds that remain open in this riverside settlement, final touches are being given to the idols of Lord Kartik. Once these idols are dispatched, Kumartuli will go into hibernation until Goddess Saraswati announces her arrival early next year. The artisans, who hardly possess other skills, will find themselves without work and sustain on their income from the preceding months, a chunk of which comes from the idols they make for Durga Puja.
Costs doubled
“Unlike you people, we take a break at this time of the year,” said Samir Pal, one of the idol-makers who earn their livelihood from Kumartuli. “But this year, I wish I was still working because we hardly made any money during Durga Puja. We paid almost double for raw materials because of GST (Goods and Services Tax) but were unable to pass on the burden to customers because idols are exempt from GST.”
He further rued: “Parties (customers) think nothing of spending lakhs of rupees on decorating pandals, but they grumble if we hike the price of idols even by a few thousand rupees. No wonder our children don’t want to take up our profession.”
Mr. Pal said that until last year, for a set of Durga idols costing around, say, ₹45,000, he made a profit of ₹10,000-₹12,000. “But this year, I am left with almost nothing — I am going to be hand-to-mouth,” he said.
Off-season income
Biswanath Pal, another artisan supervising the completion of Kartik idols further down the lane, isn’t taking a break. “I am fortunate enough to have got orders from some non-Bengali parties to supply idols of Goddess Sherawali every Saturday, starting mid-December right up to early March. This will bring me some income during off-season, or else it would have been difficult to manage with the meagre profit we made during Durga Puja,” he said.
When asked to explain how the imposition of GST had hit him, he explained: “The price of even something as basic as khor (hay) went up this year. Last year, a set of eight bundles cost ₹125, this year it cost ₹225. The price of bamboo went up from ₹110 apiece to ₹150; the price of rope went up from ₹70 to ₹100 per kg; the price of nails went up from ₹30 to ₹60-65 per kg.”
Labour charges
“What was most excruciating,” he added, “was the steep hike in labour charges. Until last year, a labourer (junior artisans who help craft idols) would charge ₹1,100-1,200 daily. This year, they charged ₹1,600-2,000 a day. They are also entitled to three daily meals and a corner to sleep.”
Artisans like them, who depend on yearly bank loans to conduct their business, are of the opinion that unless the government came up with a scheme that kept them engaged round the year, Kumartuli could well be a dying settlement. Such an eventuality, however, is unlikely, considering that Kolkata — where the festivals celebrated exceed the number of months in a year — relies heavily on idols of gods and goddesses. But it’s not difficult to picture a dead Kumartuli; one just needs to visit it this time of the year.
