Farmers Movement Archive

Uttarakhand: Priests wrest control of Char Dham, 46 temples from bureaucrats

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday announced repealing of the Char Dham Devasthanam Board Act, which had brought over 50 temples, including Char Dham shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath, under state control. The Act, which had led to constitution of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board, on the lines of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, headed by an IAS officer, was strongly opposed by the priests of the Char Dham shrines as they claimed it would deprive them of their “centuries-old rights of administering the temples.” Speaking about the move to repeal the Act, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “The decision has been taken on the basis of reports of two committees formed by us, whose members spoke to stakeholders and recommended the law be repealed. Social organisations, priests and several sections of the society were consulted. In the future, if we do decide to take a call on the issue, we will make sure everyone’s opinion is taken into account.” The Act was scrapped months before the upcoming assembly polls scheduled early next year. Sources said the ruling party had feared severe backlash from several seats in the Garhwal region due to the mounting protests of priests. The Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill, which was tabled in the state assembly in November 2019 and passed in a matter of days, had been mooted by then-chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The board was mandated to be responsible for management of funds received by the temples, take decisions related to pilgrimages and carry out developmental works in and around the four Char Dham shrines. Bureaucrats and public representatives were made members of the board while teerth purohits (priests) claimed they were not made part of the process. Before the Devasthanam board, the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC) had control over the Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines while local trusts administered Yamunotri and Gangotri temples. The four shrines received a combined revenue of Rs 50 crore in 2019. The figure dipped considerably last year as well as this year due to the pandemic. Soon after the board was formed, protests, led by priests and Opposition Congress, started across the state. After Trivendra Rawat was replaced by Tirath Rawat as chief minister, the priest community celebrated, thinking the board would now be repealed. In April, Tirath announced that he would remove 51 small temples from the board’s purview. Priests were not too happy with that. In July, chief minister Dhami, who had replaced Tirath Rawat, said the Act could be reviewed and a committee was formed on August 15, headed by former Rajya Sabha member Manohar Kant Dhyani. Meanwhile, the protests continued. On November 1, Trivendra Singh Rawat was stopped from entering the Kedar shrine. Priests vowed to protest during the PM’s visit on November 5 too. In mid-November, when the PM announced that the three contentious farm laws would be repealed, the protests to have the Devasthanam Board scrapped intensified. Protesting priests held marches in state capital Dehradun and organised sit-ins outside ministers’ residences. On November 28, an 89-page final report was submitted by the Dhyani committee and reviewed by another committee headed by state tourism minister Satpal Maharaj. The committees suggested repealing the Act.

The Times of India

2021-12-01

Dehradun