GST dwarfs Ravana's stature this Dussehra

LUCKNOW/KANPUR: The imposition of the Goods and Services Tax has dwarfed Ravana effigies in Lucknow and Kanpur this Dussehra.
With the prices of raw materials going up post GST, Ramlila organisers and craftsmen have been forced to reduce the height of effigies.
Two prominent Ramlila committees of Lucknow -Bakshi Ka Talab and Sadar -have curtailed the size of effigies by 10-15 feet.
The demon at Bakshi Ka Talab Ramlila will stand at 45foot this year as compared to 55-foot last year. Nagendra Chauhan, a member of the organizing committee, said, “Until last year, the effigy cost Rs 50,000, including fireworks. But this year, crafts men told us that they would have to make a shorter effigy , and without fireworks, in the same budget. The organisers are paying extra money for the fireworks,“ said Chauhan.
He said that tax on firecrackers has doubled from 14.5% to 28%, adding that the fabric was not taxable earlier, but now it comes under 5% tax bracket. Labourer wages, too, have gone up.
Raghunath Rai of Sadar Ramlila said their Ravana effigy is 15-foot shorter -from 60-foot last year to 45-foot this year. “We had no option but to cut the height because the prices have increased while the collection is the same, that is, Rs 45,000,“ he said. Effigy makers in the open market, too, have been hit.The cost of 15-foot effigies has jumped from Rs 2000 to over Rs 3000, forcing them to cut down on firecrackers and decorations.
“This time we are making only bamboo and paper structures without crackers because buyers are reluctant to pay high prices. We add firecrackers only when buyers are ready to pay extra money ,“ said Irfan, who sells small effigies near Shaheed Path. “We do not know much about GST except that the prices of bamboo, coloured paper sheets, wire and other raw material has gone up this year. So, either we have to sell the effigies at increased price or at the price charged last year by reducing our profit margin,“ said Kishan, an effigy maker in Kanpur.