Priests once again oppose the decision of Government take over of ‘Chardhaam’ & 51 temples

The priests express their opposition in headstand in front of the house of the Chief Minister

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) – The priests are constantly opposing the Government take over of 51 temples along with the ‘Chardhaam’. Previously, the BJP Government had assured that the ‘Devasthanam Board’ related to this will be repealed; but as this has not yet been implemented, the priests have once again started protesting. This time the priests protested by standing in headstand posture in front of the house of the State Minister Subodh Uniyal. The priests have demanded that management of the temples should be handed over to the local priests. Uniyal came out of the house and tried to convince the priests. He assured them that after 30th November, the Government will give its decision, which will be in the favor of the priests.

देवस्थानम प्रबंधन अधिनियम लाई थी त्रिवेंद्र रावत सरकार, तीर्थ पुरोहित कर रहे अधिनियम का विरोध | @DilipDsr#DevasthanamBoard https://t.co/2oBC32r60B

— AajTak (@aajtak) November 24, 2021

A meeting of the Chardham Pilgrimage Priests and the authorities of the Temple Association was recently organised in the ‘Dharmashala’. They decided that the 27th of November will be seen as ‘Black Day’ in opposition of the Government  take over of these temples.

What is the matter ?

1. The ‘Chardham Devasthanam Management Act’ was enforced during the tenure of the then Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat of BJP. According to that, the ‘Chardham Devasthanam Board’ was established by the Government of Rawat in January 2020. With this act, the management of the 51 temples in the State along with the Chardhams Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunatri was brought under the control of the Government. The ‘Purohit’ and ‘Panda’ ‘Samaj’ expressed their opposition by saying, we are deprived of our rights by this decision of the State Government.

2. Tirath Singh Rawat, who became the Chief Minister after Trivendra Singh Rawat, had assured that the Government take over of the temples will be repealed, but this assurance was not fulfilled.

3. The current BJP Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has established a high level committee under the guidance of ‘Manohar Kant Dhyani’, the former member of Rajyasabha, regarding this matter. It has also been assured that the decision will be taken based on the report of this committee. The final report of the committee has been entrusted to the Government but the due date fixed for the final report, which was 30th October, has already passed, but no decision has been given on this matter. Hence, the priests have again started protesting.