BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, May 16, 2015 ( Daily Pioneer): The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, for the first time, has initiated an audit of about 18,000 mutts and temples in Odisha. The State Government has enlisted these mutts (monasteries) and temples, which, apart from their own sources of income, also get Government aid. The mutts and temples, which have properties of over hundreds of thousands of US dollars, are now mired in gross irregularities. While some persons have encroached upon the mutt and temple land or sold these away at throwaway prices, some have forcibly taken possession of these religious institutions since years.
Sources said Principal Accountant General Amar Patnaik, in a letter to the Chief Secretary, has expressed his keenness for an audit of the mutts and temples and requested him to appoint the CAG as the auditor. The Law Department has begun the process for the proposed audit. A source in the Law Department said there is a provision for CAG audit of mutts and temples under Section (58) (3) of the Odisha Hindu Endowment Act, 1951. On the basis of this legal provision, the Law Department would send files to the office of the Chief Minister, on whose approval the CAG would conduct the audit, the source said.