Ganesh Utsav: Vargani a ‘lame law’ gives mandals in Pune a free run

The nub of the problem lies in the apparent “haziness in the law”, which prevents prompt or pre-emptive action by authorities to prevent such incidents. Permissions for collecting money for the Ganesh festival are issued by the office of the Joint Charity Commissioner under the Bombay Public Trust (BPT), Act, 1950. In order to get such permissions, mandals have to submit their previous year’s accounts. Figures say around 3,000 such permissions were issued for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad last year.

“BPT Act makes it illegal to go on a collection drive without prior permission, but the Act is silent about the penal action or the competent authority to take action in case of violations,” says an advocate.

There are conflicting figures when it comes to the total number of Ganpati mandals in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Last year, police records show 2,973 mandals took part in the “visarjan” procession which by no means would be the total number of Ganesh mandals in the city. There are many mandals that wrap up their festivities in the second or fifth day also.

Researcher Dinesh Thite hazards a guess that Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad together have over 4,000 operational mandals. Other than by the mandals, the festival is also celebrated in housing societies. Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad together have over 10,290 cooperative housing societies. Exactly how many of them avail of the necessary permissions from the Joint Charity Commissioner’s office remains a matter of guess.

Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla, when asked about the issue, had said the police had decided to take matters seriously and file cases of extortion against the perpetrators. “All such matters will be dealt with seriously,” she said.

Maruti Bhapkar, who heads Swaraj Abhiyan’s Maharashtra unit, says it’s just two per cent of the mandals which indulge in such extortion. “People should lodge police complaints in such cases.”

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In many housing societies, a recent trend has been observed in which the society decides to earmark amount from the sinking fund or announce per head donations. This, officials of the cooperative department say, is illegal and liable for action if formal complaints are lodged.

Overall, Tithe says, the changing economies of Ganesh mandals has to be taken in consideration where in donations now form just a small part of the budget. “Advertisements and sponsorship now provide a far larger chunk of money,” he says.