Dasara expenditure in an year of drought higher than last year
Mysuru: The authorities have spent Rs 29.25 crore for the Dasara Festival 2023 which was higher than the expenditure incurred during 2022 edition of the festival.
Releasing the details of the expenses incurred by the Dasara Executive Committee, Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra said that the amount spent last year was Rs 28.74 crore against which Rs 29.25 crore has been spent this year.
When questioned whether the cost escalation and expenditure could be justified in a year of drought, Mr. Rajendra said one has to factor, in general, an increase in prices, and as the amount spent was marginally higher than last year, it can be surmised that there was no wasteful expenditure and the amount spent for Dasara was within limits.
The Deputy Commissioner said Rs 2.25 crore was raised by way of sponsorship while Rs 1.19 crore of revenue accrued due to the sale of gold cards and tickets. The amount raised from sponsors in 2022 was only Rs 32.50 lakh and Rs 76.38 lakh was raised by way of ticket sales in 2022. ‘’We could have raised an additional amount from sponsors but did not do so as it entailed providing exclusive rights to the sponsored,’’ said Mr. Rajendra.
However, the expenditure of Rs 28.74 crore does not factor in the amount spent on illuminating the city which alone has cost upward of Rs 6 crore. Mr. Rajendra said it was undertaken by the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) and the Dasara Executive Committee did not release funds for it from the government grant. Similarly, Aahara Mela and Dasara Sports were also not funded by the State Grant. However, Rs 50 lakh was paid to the Wadiyar family as royalty which included Rs 47.5 lakh as honorarium and Rs 2.5 lakh as GST.
The government had released Rs 15 crore as a grant for this year’s festival while Rs 10 crore was released by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority and Rs 5 crore by the palace board. Mr. Rajendra said that in the run-up to the festival before the drought was declared and rains played havoc, the estimates were pegged at around Rs 40 crore to Rs 45 crores. But given the drought, it was decided to scale down the expenditure without diluting the essence of the festival, said Rajendra. pointing out that the Dasara’s grandeur was also not compromised.
