Last year, revenue minister Anandiben Patel had called a meeting of leading industrialists of the state and asked them to make voluntary contributions for Navratri.
Notwithstanding the gung-ho zeal they have recently exhibited for government-sponsored events, as many as 30 corporates that have operations in Gujarat appear unwilling to foot the bill for an event organised last year. The event in question is the Vibrant Guajrat Navratri Mega Festival organised at University Ground in Ahmedabad from September 30 to October 8, 2008.
In August last year, revenue minister Anandiben Patel had called a meeting of leading industrialists of the state and asked them to make voluntary contributions for the Navratri festival. Sources said that major private sector companies had then come together and formed the Gujarat Industries Navratri Festival Society (GINFS), mainly to organise the mega festival. All these companies have extensive operations in Gujarat.
A highly placed source in the government who assisted the society on behalf of the Gujarat government, said that the society had spent more than Rs10crore in organising the event. “Only Rs5 crore has been received from corporates so far, though nearly six months have passed since the event was held,” the source said. “Almost 50% of those who promised money for the event are yet to deliver as promised. This is strange as honchos of some major companies had promised money for the event.”
The source added that the government, too, had received complaints that many small traders, who had provided facilities and services at the mega festival, had not been paid by the GINFS.
Other sources said that as the expected contributions were promised voluntarily, the government could not force the miserly companies to cough up the money. “But it will definitely sour their relations with the government,” a source said. Office-bearers of the GINFS refused to comment on the matter when DNA contacted them. But other sources in the GINFS confirmed that the corporates had been requested by the government, time and again, to pay the money they had promised.
It has also been learnt that many companies had pledged support orally for the government-sponsored Kutch Rann Utsav-2008 that was held in December. A senior official who played a key role in organising the Rann Utsav said that the government had asked many corporates, some of whom have huge investments in Kutch, to pay the promised money.
“Most of them haven’t even bothered to respond to the government’s request,” a source said.
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