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Dehradun: A day after Parliament passed a bill that repealed three controversial agricultural laws, the Uttarakhand government announced that the Char Dham Devasthanam Board would be dissolved. This umbrella body was formed under the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019 – which will now be repealed – to manage the activities of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri temples and their associated temples. The board has been in controversies since the beginning because of the priests.pilgrim priest) are agitating against these temples.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami made this announcement after receiving the report of the high level committee on Monday evening. The priests welcomed the move and said they had withdrawn the agitation, which had become an election issue for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state. The priests, who believed they would lose their right over the temple properties under the board, had threatened to throw their weight behind alternative candidates.
Dhami tweeted, “The government has decided to withdraw the Devasthanam Board Act keeping in mind the sentiments, rights of the people. pilgrim priest And those who are related to Char Dham on the basis of Manohar Kant Dhyani Committee report.
You change all people’s quality, trust priests, Haq-kook with respect and respect to all those who are dangerous, Mr. Kantita on the basis of expert in the quality of meditating ji the government has given respect to the Devasthan Board. Estimates. pic.twitter.com/eUH3Tf1go1
— pushkar singh dhami (@pushkardhami) November 30, 2021
Senior state officials said the Centre’s decision to withdraw agricultural laws has helped Uttarakhand gain the power to repeal the board law.
The state government had constituted the committee in August under the leadership of former Rajya Sabha MP and senior BJP leader Manohar Kant Dhyani. It presented its report to a subcommittee of the state cabinet headed by Uttarakhand Tourism and Culture Minister Satpal Maharaj two days ago. Maharaj submitted the report to the Chief Minister on Monday evening.
Speaking to ThePrint, Maharaj said the decision was taken after an “in-depth study” of the 89-page report. “Though not much can be said about the report, it was done in the interest of the agitators” pilgrim priest,” he said. He added that a repeal bill would be introduced in the assembly soon, and that “the Devasthanam Board would be dissolved,” he said.
Read also: What is Uttarakhand’s Char Dham Board, and why angry priests want it to be abolished
long standing movement
The BJP government led by the then Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat enacted the law in December 2019 and notified it on 15 January 2020. The priests of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites – Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath – who were to come under it. The board soon started a movement.
The protesting priests alleged that under the jurisdiction of the board, they would lose their rights to hold the properties of the shrines, and the authorities would evict them from the land and guesthouses. He also said that the board would violate their rights to conduct religious ceremonies within Char Dham temples and temple areas.
The priests threatened to make it an issue in the 2022 state assembly elections, saying they would support non-BJP candidates or field their own candidates. Worried about the constant agitation and threats. Trivendra Singh Rawat’s successor Tirath Singh Rawat – whose government would last just two months – had announced that the law would be reviewed.
Under the next chief minister, Dhami, the government formed the Dhyani Committee in August to resolve the issues entrenched in the law. However, according to government officials, the committee has instead explicitly recommended that the law be repealed.
The BJP was also under pressure from another side in the form of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat. was announced If voted to power in 2022, his party will dissolve the board.
Read also: Why is Uttarakhand Congress angry with the BJP government award to former CM ND Tiwari?
Priests call off agitation
The agitating priests have expressed happiness over the Chief Minister’s announcement, but have said that they will get relief only after the decision in the assembly.
KK Kotiyal, president of the Char Dham Teerth Purohit Hakuk Dhari Mahapanchayat, the organization that led the movement, said he welcomed the decision and thanked the chief minister, and that his protest was “pronounced correct.”
“It was a struggle for truth and the government has now joined us in this,” he said. The government has understood the seriousness of the reasons for the agitation. pilgrim priest, It would have been detrimental to the entire community of priests of Char Dham temples.”
Vinod Shukla, president of the Kedarnath Teerth Purohit Mahasabha, a body of temple priests and a member of the Dhyani committee, said, “Though there has been no official communication from the government, we have been called by the chief minister’s office on the matter. , We have called off the protests for now, but will wait until the House passes a decision to repeal the board. We will have an official celebration only after it becomes a law.”
Devasthanam Board
The 29-member Devasthanam Board came into existence on 15 January 2020. As per the Act, “The Char Dham Devasthanam Board is supreme for the purpose of management of the Devasthanams or temples, having the power to make policies, decide. Provisions of the Act, budget formulation, sanction of expenditure, planning and management of temple areas.” The Act authorized the Board to fix and distribute honorarium, salaries and allowances to the appointed priests.
This high-profile umbrella religious body has the chief minister as its president and the state culture and religious affairs minister as its vice-president. Other members include seven bureaucrats, including the chief secretary of the state and heads of departments concerned, as well as nominees from different sections of the Hindu community. At present, the board has 53 temples in addition to the four Char Dham temples, and distributes monthly payments and other honorariums to the priests of these temples.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
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