The association of Ganpati idol makers from Pen city in order to meet the supply and demand of Ganpati idols for the upcoming Ganpati festival have restarted their production by availing loan under the emergency credit scheme.
Mumbai: With barely a month and half to go before the Ganapati festival late in August the Ganpati idol makers of Pen in Raigad district of Maharashtra are at their wits end. Already reeling under the impact of the lockdown enforced due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the recent cyclone Nisarga has broken their back financially. Now they have availed a loan under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to restart manufacturing.
Shri Ganesh Murtikar and Commercial Kalyankari Mandal (SGMACKM) has in a statement issued on Tuesday stated that in the lockdown period during their meeting with bank officials it came in light that the estimated loan availed by the idol makers is approximately Rs.100 crore. Now in order to restart their business they have had to avail fresh loan under the ECLGS.
“The overall compensation for Raigad district is Rs.100 crore. The inspection of loss to property in Pen is going on, while the idol makers need to deliver the orders to their customers on time. The cyclone winds had badly damaged the production facilities. The warehouses collapsed and government does not include idol makers in any category. Thus, we had to avail new loan under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS),” said Bharat Pawar from the association.
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“Under the scheme most took loans as they had taken the orders from Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. Now in the coming days they were to send out Ganpati idols from here. However the cyclone has once again ruined them. The idol makers are now roofless thus they had to take loan for raw materials and shed to the warehouse,” said Shrikant Deodhar, President of the association.
The association argues that it will take at least 60 days to get the compensation for the loss however, the delay will bring more worry to idol makers as now people have started enquiring to fetch their Ganpati idols from Pen.
Aditi Tatkare , the Guardian Minister for Raigad district said, “ The government does not have any provision or scheme for idol makers. There is no mention of this community. However, now the scheme is being revised and they will be included in the shop scheme. Thus they will get compensation based on the loss to warehouses. It is sad that they have to start production of idols all over again.”
The Ganpati idol makers of Pen in Raigad district of Maharashtra are known world over for their mastery at making the idols of the Vighnaharta (one who dispels troubles). It seems that mother nature this year has decided to keep them testing hard.
Amidst the lockdown they suffered huge loss as they failed in delivering their idols which they normally begin from the month of March every year. During unlock1.0, they had plans to execute the deliveries of idols meantime Nisarga cyclone totally destroyed their business.
The idol makers from Pen have production capacity of 12 to 15 lakh Ganpati idols. The Pen city alone has about 5,000 workshops which produce no less than 10 lakhs Ganpati idols.
Ganpati festival is popular across India and is the biggest religious festival for all. Pen exports its eco-friendly Ganpati idols to America, Canada, Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia, Bangkok and London. In India Pen exports Ganpati idols to Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Indore, Rajasthan, Banaras, and Goa and in other districts of Maharashtra and wherever Ganpati festival is celebrated in a big way.
