New Delhi: The Uttarakhand government on Wednesday decided to set up a Char Dham shrine board to run the affairs of more than 50 famous temples located in the state, including the four Himalayan shrines. The board would function along the lines of the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir and Tirupati Balaji shrine in Andhra Pradesh.
Apart from the famous Himalayan temples of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, 47 other well-known temples dotting Uttarakhand will come under the jurisdiction of the board, according to PTI.
The state cabinet gave its approval to the Uttarakhand Chardham Shrine Board Management Legislation, 2019 seeking constitution of the board at a meeting chaired by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
The board will mandatorily hold one meeting once a year and work for the renovation and restructuring of the temples under its purview. It will also protect the rights of the ‘teerth-purohits‘ associated with the temples, official sources said.
According to Hindustan Times, state urban development minister Madan Kaushik said that the proposed law would provide for a Hindu cabinet minister to be the chairperson of the shrine board in case a Muslim becomes the chief minister. All eight chief ministers of the state since it was formed in 2000 have been Hindus.
The government’s decision is an attempt to introduce an “overarching law” to oversee the functioning of Hindu places of worship in the state. Temples have until now been governed by individual committees with government representatives.
“Once formed, CM of the state would head the board as its chairperson. Three MPs, six MLAs, several secretaries and priests of the char dhams will also be included as members in the board,” Kaushik said.
The board’s chief executive officer will be an IAS officer. “In case there is a Muslim CM then a senior Hindu cabinet minister would be the chairperson of the board,” Kaushik said, according to HT.
The minister said that in the initial phase, the board will manage Char Dham and 51 temples. A Bill would be tabled in the upcoming assembly and once passed, the board will work on the lines of the Vaishno Devi and Tirupati Balaji Shrine Management Boards.