Karnataka: BJP slams Cong for bill taxing temples; minister defends move

In the wake of a scathing attack by the BJP over the passage of the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Bill in the Karnataka Assembly, state Transport and Hindu Religious Endowments Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Thursday (February 22) defended the government’s move to collect funds from temples having gross income of ₹10 lakh.

Decrying the bill, the saffron party has alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka has introduced it to fill its “empty coffers” with temple money.

Reddy said the collection of funds from affluent temples was necessary to enhance the amount of common pool fund, include a person skilled in Vishwa Hindu Temple architecture and sculpture in the committee of management of notified institutions and to form district and state-level committees to improve temples and infrastructure for the safety of pilgrims.

Reddy told reporters that the provision was not new but has existed since 2003.

Dharmika Parishad corpus

There are 3,000 C-Grade temples in Karnataka, which have less than ₹5 lakh income from where 'Dharmika Parishad' gets no money.

Dharmika Parishad is a committee to improve the temple management for the benefit of pilgrims.

There are B-Grade temples with income between ₹5 lakh and ₹25 lakh from where five per cent of the gross income had been going to the Dharmika Parishad since 2003.

The Dharmika Parishad had been getting 10 per cent revenue from those temples whose gross income was above ₹25 lakh since 2003.

“Now what we have done is we have made it free from paying to Dharmika Parishad if the income is up to ₹10 lakh. We have made provisions to collect five per cent from temples whose gross income is between ₹10 lakh and less than one crore. Ten per cent of the income will be collected from temples whose income is above ₹1 crore. All this amount will reach the Dharmika Parishad," Reddy said.

Fund will help in salaries, education: Minister

The Minister said there are 40,000 to 50,000 priests in the state whom the state government wants to help.

"If the money reaches Dharmika Parishad then we can provide them insurance cover. We want their families to get at least ₹5 lakh if something happens to them. To pay the premium we need ₹7 crore to ₹8 crore,” he explained.

The minister said the government wants to provide scholarships to children of temple priests, which would require ₹5 crore to ₹6 crore annually.

This entire amount will benefit the temple priests only, many of whom are in a poor condition.

Government sources said the purpose behind the bill is to provide facilities and safety to pilgrims within the jurisdiction of Group 'A' temples.

A district level and state high-level committee will be constituted to scrutinise, review and submit the proposals regarding the construction and maintenance of buildings, roads and tunnels, electricity supply and maintenance, water supply and sanitation, construction of recreation centres and libraries to provide necessary facilities to pilgrims and to provide safety to pilgrims within the jurisdiction of Group "A" Temples, they added.

Cong govt has evil eyes on temples: BJP

In a post on 'X,' BJP state president B Y Vijayendra hit out at the government over the move and said, "Corrupt, inept #LootSarkaar with its penchant for anti-Hindu ideology in the guise of secularism, has cast its evil eyes on the temple revenues. Through the Hindu Religious Endowments amendment act, it is trying to siphon off donations as well as offerings from Hindu temples and religious institutions in order to fill its empty coffers."

The Shivamogga MLA said the government plans to gobble up 10 per cent of the temple revenue exceeding ₹1 crore and five per cent of temple revenue below ₹5 crore.

"This not only reflects the deplorable condition of this government, but also shows its abject hate towards Hindu Dharma," he charged.

Temple funds should be dedicatedly utilised for renovation of temples and to facilitate work beneficial to devotees, rather than diverting it for other purposes, which would be an injustice and betrayal of people's religious beliefs, the BJP state chief said.

Vijayendra asked the government why only Hindu temples are targeted for revenue, leaving out other religions, is a question raised by millions of devotees.

"Instead of grabbing the devotees' money, government can install "Donation Boxes" so that the concerned citizens can help this penniless govt boost its revenue as a Gesture of Goodwill," he stated.

New low for Congress: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Slamming the Congress government for passing the bill, Union Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar called it a "new low" for the state's ruling party.

"Every time you think Rahul's Congress cannot fall any lower, along comes and example of them falling even lower," Chandrasekhar said.

"The Karnataka Congress headed by D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, Rahul's handpicked leaders for the Karnataka Congress, have today brought a Karnataka Religious Endowment Bill, where they propose that 10 per cent of donations received by the Hindu temples every year will be taken away by the government without assigning any reason or cause," he said.

"This money that is being given to the temple by Hindu devotees for the upkeep of the temple as a sign of faith is in a sense being looted by the government of Karnataka to fund their various requirements for the Congress," he said.

"This is the government which in few months has shown crore and crore of rupees have been siphoned off and given to their contractors. And now the case they're making to fund their corrupt politics is that the Hindu devotees in Karnataka must give money to the Karnataka Congress ATM machine... Hindu devotees' money is being looted by the Karnataka government," he said.

The Karnataka government on Wednesday passed the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Bill in the Assembly. The bill mandates that the government will collect 10 per cent of the income of temples that have revenues of more than ₹1 crore.

(With inputs from agencies)