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Mumbai, May 18, 2010: The state government’s proposal to take over administrative control of
around two lakh temples in the state on grounds of mismanagement has evoked
strong opposition from temple managements who allege that they run the temples
more efficiently than the government, and have threatened to drag the state to
the court if the plan is implemented.
State law and judiciary minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on Monday announced
that the government may take control of the temples in as soon as two months.“We have noticed cases of mismanagement and corruption in some temples, which is
why we are thinking of taking over all the temples. A decision will be taken in
two months,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vikhe-Patil has asked the charity commissioner, who is the guardian
of the trusts under the Public Trusts Act, to submit a comprehensive list of all
the temples registered with his office. In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the
state already oversees the administration of all the temples.Madhav Ketkar, a trustee of Haji Malang Trust, said that he will challenge the
move in court. “Our family has been maintaining the shrine since 700 years. The
Supreme Court has given us rights of worship and maintenance of the shrine. If
the government tries to snatch away this right, we will drag them to court,” he
said. Ketkar added that if the government takes over, there will be chaos as the
government officials won’t be able to understand the demands of the devotees.
Surendra Savai, a trustee of Godiji Jain Temple in Pydhonie, is also opposed to
the move. “Our systems are different. Whatever money comes in is utilised only
for that particular purpose. People give boli during festivals, and they donate
because they trust us. If the government takes over, no one will give any money.
We have old temples, and we raise funds for their restoration. A large amount of
Jain donations is spent on protecting animals. The government had come up with
this idea earlier too, but we fought against it and they had to eventually drop
it,” he said.
Bhalchandra Walawalkar, assistant manager of Mahalakshmi Trust, said, “We cannot
comment right now as we will have to wait and see how the situation develops.
However, the government had mooted the same idea before, but it did not work
out.”
A Jain sadhu, Naypadmasagarji Maharaj, said, “I do not understand why they want
to get into and interfere with religious deeds. When the government cannot
tackle corruption in its own system, why does it want to get into this?
Corruption will creep into the dharmic deeds as well.” Source: dnaindia
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