GST effect: Heightened prices dwarf Ravana effigies

Lucknow: Rising prices of raw materials post the Goods and Services Tax have impacted negatively on Dussehra celebrations this year, especially in Lucknow and nearby areas.

The increased prices have forced the Ramlila organisers and craftsmen to curtail the preparations for the festivals and reduce the height of effigies of demon king ‘Ravana’. Two prominent Ramlila committees of Lucknow -Bakshi Ka Talab and Sadar -have curtailed the size of effigies by 10-15 feet while craftsmen have decided to make a shorter effigy, without fireworks, in the same budget.

Nagendra Chauhan, a member of the organizing committee, said, "Until last year, the effigy had costed Rs 50,000, including fireworks. We do not know much about GST except that the prices of bamboo, coloured paper sheets, wire and other raw material have gone up this year.”

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Another effigy seller Irfan stated that this time the effigies are being made only from bamboo and paper structures without crackers because buyers are reluctant to pay high prices. “We would add firecrackers only when buyers were ready to pay extra money" he said.

GST effect:

• The ‘Ravana’ at Bakshi Ka Talab Ramlila will stand at 45 foot this year as compared to 55-foot of last year.
• Tax on firecrackers has doubled from 14.5 per cent to 28 per cent.
• The fabric which was not taxable earlier has come under 5 per cent tax bracket.
• Labourer wages, too, have gone up.
• Sadar Ramlila’s Ravana effigy is 15-foot shorter -from 60-foot last year to 45-foot this year.
• The cost of 15-foot effigies has jumped from Rs 2000 to over Rs 3000 giving a hit to makers in the open market.