Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat takes 51 temples out of Devasthanam Board's control

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said, "I have decided to take out of the Devasthanam Board's ambit 51 temples which had been brought under it."

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New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday (April 9) declared to remove the management of 51 temples from the control of the Char Dham Devasthanam Board while also seeking to review the board’s formation.

"I have decided to take out of the Devasthanam Board's ambit 51 temples which had been brought under it,” Rawat told reporters after his meeting with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal. 

He added that the state government will also reconsider its decision regarding the Board's formation. 

The Devasthanam Board was formed in December 2019 during the tenure of former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. It was assigned the management of 51 temples of the state, including the four famous shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

The seers and 'teerth-purohits' had not welcomed the decision for the formation of the Board as they felt their traditional rights over the temples would suffer because of it. They had also accused the government of not providing them assurance while taking such a major decision. 

Defending the government’s decision on the formation of the Board, state Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj had said the creation of this board was necessary for better management of the temples. 

Meanwhile, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the Uttarakhand government on Friday decided to impose a night curfew in Dehradun from 10 pm to 5 am. All schools from class 1 to 12 have been shut till April 30 in parts of Haridwar, Nainital as well as Dehradun. 

(With PTI inputs)