Temples add Rs 208.75 crore to state coffers in one year

Ill-effect of takeover of temples by Government ? Will this same govt dare to take money from churches, madrassas and mosques to put in state coffers ? – Editor, HJS website

Chennai: The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has earned 208.75 crore as income by leasing out temple land and buildings in 2014-15. This is the department’ largest earning in a year.

In the last four years put together, the department earned 422.05 crore. Officials attributed the record earnings to removal of encroachments and also fixing of fair rent on several buildings and land occupied by tenants for several generations.

“Many tenants occupying agricultural land as well as land and buildings in urban areas were not paying fair rent fixed by the department and these were settled by revenue courts,” said a senior officer, seeking anonymity . The department also put up boards on the premises of various temples with names of he tenants, who have not paid rent, along with their address and extent of land occupied he said.

The department has 22,600 building sites and 33,665 vacant plots of land which had been leased out to various individuals and companies “Besides donations and fund collections, revenue also comes from sale of land to departments like highways for widening of road or to metro rail authorities for construction of stations or laying of a railway line,” said the officer For sale of land, the government has to issue an order after which the land is sold following the purchaser depositing the market rate, he said.

The department set up revenue courts in Thanjavur, Trichy , Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Madurai, Lalgudi, Mannargudi, Nagapattinam and Tirunelveli as well as three additional temporary courts. “The revenue courts have settled 7,503 out of 25,746 cases on land-related issues. The courts ordered retrieval of `12.88 crore and of this `1.68 crore has been collected in 2014-15,” he said.

Several temples have become rich after revenue officials and special officers transferred land back in the name of temples. “In the last four years, pattas of 3,405.22 acres belonging to 549 temples were restored. Last year alone, 614.85 acres belonging to 192 temples were restored,” he said.

Source : The Times Of India