The futility of Govt’s taking over temple management under the guise of good governance is exposed !
Maharashtra Government took over the management of many big temples of only Hindus under the pretext of better governance; to give facilities to devotees, and claiming that the temples were mismanaged, etc. Among these temples, Shri Tuljabhavani Mandir of Tuljapur was taken over in 2015 and ShaniShingnapur Temple was taken over in 2018, but nobody from the Law and Justice Department of Maharashtra Government has visited these two temples since 2016 till now; nor have they supervised the management at these two temples; therefore, not to say anything on good governance, what kind of control will the Government have over management if it has not visited these temples even once in five years? Advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, the national President of Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad (HVP) has asked this question to the State Government.
सुव्यवस्थापन के नाम पर किए जा रहे ‘मंदिर सरकारीकरण’ का भांडाफोड !
तुळजापुर और शनिशिंगणापुर देवस्थानों की ओर सरकार ने ५ वर्ष देखा ही नहीं ! – हिन्दू विधिज्ञ परिषद @ssvirendra @abpmajhatv @zee24taasnews @mataonline @LoksattaLive #FreeHinduTemples pic.twitter.com/np34wHO3Zw
— HinduJagrutiOrg (@HinduJagrutiOrg) October 30, 2021
The above shocking information was obtained under ‘Right to Information (RTI)’ Act. The other information asked to the Law and Justice Department of Maharashtra Government, under RTI, were copies of various documents on the number of visits by the State Government personnel to these temples; the instructions given by the Department; the reports prepared by the department; follow up reports submitted by the temples based on the instructions; temples’ accounts/audit reports and the copy of clarifications given, if any, on the objections raised on the accounts, etc, but to all the above queries, the State Government has replied in negative. A secular government taking over temple management is basically a cruel joke. How can a secular government take over places of Hindus where their religious sentiments are attached? Even if we keep aside this important and constantly discussed point, it has, however, been proved that the Government has totally failed in its duty even at the practical level.
Investigations into the scams related to hundred crores worth throne at Shri Tuljabhavani Mandir, scam related to 267 acres of temple land, etc were handed over to the Crime Investment machinery and its report was submitted to the State Home Department in 2017; but the deterrents in the State Government are not letting the report become public. As regards ShaniShingnapur Temple, it was accused that huge advertisements of political leaders were financed through political interference or funds from this temple. What happened to those accusations? As per the law, once a temple is taken over by the government, the accounts are to be audited and the audit reports are to be sent to the Law and Justice Department where they are required to be checked and action is required to be taken on the observations, but from the replies received from the Government, nothing of these things seem to be happening. On one hand, the State Government is unable to run its own companies and they are incurring losses, and the companies have to be sold; then, on what basis, it is promising devotees of proper management of temples? In fact, Hindus should take the Government and its concerned officers to task, was the frank opinion given by advocate Ichalkaranjikar.
