<h1>Mandals protest exclusion, call Rs 11 crore grants and new festival scheme inadequate, warn traffic, selection concerns</h1> The state has designated the 10-day Ganesh festival as a 'state festival' and announced funding, prizes and initiatives including a portal, anthem, expanded competitions and capital grants for devotional troupes, but a coordinating body of public mandals criticized being excluded from consultations and called the Rs 11 crore allocation insufficient. The body stressed mandals' year-round social work, questioned the selection and registration norms for roughly 1,800 assisted bhajani troupes, and warned that the altered holiday schedule for immersion day could create traffic problems for non-government workers during processions.