First meeting of the Government Committee on Devasthan Lands held !

Government Devasthan Committee firm on introducing a ‘Devasthan Land Protection Act’ instead of a ‘Devasthan Inam Abolition Act’ !

Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and other dignitaries present during the meeting

Mumbai – The Government Devasthan Committee has taken a firm stand that, instead of introducing a ‘Devasthan Inam Abolition Act’, a ‘Devasthan Land Protection Act’ should be enacted to preserve Devasthan Inam lands across the State and permanently resolve issues that have remained pending for years. The first important meeting of the Devasthan Inam Land Conservation Committee was recently held at Mantralaya under the chairmanship of Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Senior government officials and trustees of various Devasthans participated in the meeting.

Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule directed that, while drafting the proposed legislation, pending cases before the High Courts and the Supreme Court, as well as existing laws, should be thoroughly studied to ensure that no legal complications arise in the future.

1. At the outset of the meeting, a detailed presentation (PPT) outlining the proposed legislation was made on behalf of the Devasthan Committee.

2. It was proposed that, for the formulation of the new law, the committee should be provided with classified information regarding all categories of Devasthan lands in the State; all complaints and objections relating to Inam lands should be categorised and submitted; a report on the scam involving thousands of acres of land under the jurisdiction of the Western Maharashtra Devasthan Management Committee should be placed before the committee; the government entries recorded against thousands of acres of Devarai lands in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts should be changed and the lands should once again be recorded in the names of Devarai and Devarahati; and information should be furnished regarding encroachments and illegal entries on thousands of acres of land belonging to government-controlled temples, as well as disputes concerning village-settlement lands belonging to Devasthans.

3. It was further decided that the proposed legislation should not be confined solely to land-related matters but should comprehensively safeguard the overall interests of Devasthans.

4. Attention was also drawn to the need for providing Hindu temple lands with special legal protection similar to that available to Waqf Board lands.

5. To ensure that a comprehensive law is finalised during the legislative session between December 2026 and March 2027, it was decided that the committee would hold weekly meetings, both in person and online.

The meeting was attended by Revenue Department Principal Secretary Vikas Kharge, Joint Secretary Kailas Gaikwad, Revenue Department Joint Secretary Manisha Jayabhaye, Deputy Secretary Sanjay Dharurkar, and officials from the Law and Justice Department.

Also present were the Divisional Commissioners of the Konkan and Pune divisions, as well as the District Collectors of Thane and Ahilyanagar.

Among the committee members present were Mr Sandeep Mahajan, Adv. Ashish Sonawane, Mr Sanjeev Deshpande, Mr Anil Sambare, Adv. Rajesh Mudholkar, Mr Jagdish Patil, Adv. Ravindra Kshirsagar, Mr Sunil Ghanwat, National Organiser of Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh, Adv. Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, National President of Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad, Mr Anup Jaiswal, Mr Vijay Pore, and Mr Keshav Vidwans, Trustee of the Chinchwad Devasthan Trust.