WARANGAL, TELAGANA, INDIA, August 21, 2016 (The Hans India):
HPI note: What isn’t said in this report is that this action constitutes removing the temples from the control of the hereditary trusts and subsuming their management and income under the State government, as is the case in the rest of India.
The State government is all set to constitute the non-hereditary trust boards to 33 major temples in the State. As political circles are busy in connection with creation of new districts, the notification issued by the government for the constitution of non-hereditary trust board members to the temples almost went unnoticed, but not for those aspiring for the posts. They are already camping in the capital, hoping to get the plum posts.
Though it has been more than 26 months since the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) stormed to power, it has not made any serious attempt to fill several posts other than a few nominated posts such as agriculture market committees. Against this backdrop, the government has issued a notification for the constitution of trust boards to the temples recently. In a bid to facilitate more persons in the temple committees, the government has increased the number of members through an Ordinance, amending Section 15 of the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987.
As per the amendment, the number of trustees has been increased to 14 from the existing nine where the income of the temple exceeds US$149,000 per annum, and the same will be applied to the temples that have an income range between $37,000 and $149,000 per annum. The number of trustees for the temples falling in the income group of $3,000Rs to $37,000 per annum is increased to 7 from 5 and the temples that have an income less than $3,000 per annum will have 5 members instead of 3.