Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced to repeal the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019, on Tuesday (November 30).
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced on Tuesday (November 30) that his government would repeal the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019. The decision was taken on the recommendation of the Manohar Kant Dhyani committee, which was constituted to look into the matter.
“Considering the sentiments and interests of people, honour of priests and stakeholders and others associated with Char Dham and on the basis of the report of a high-level committee constituted under Manohar Kant Dhyani, the government has decided to repeal Devasthanam Board Act”, Chief Minister Dhami posted on social media platform Twitter.
The Bill, which led to massive uproar, was aimed at bringing the Char Dham of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and 49 other temples under the purview of a proposed shrine board.
The Bill was passed in the Uttarakhand Assembly in December 2019 and became the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019. Under the same Act, the government, led by then Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, constituted the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Board on January 15 last year.
In the meeting of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal in Haridwar earlier this year, the sant samaj had repeatedly demanded the then CM Tirath Singh Rawat, who was present at the meeting, to abolish the board immediately. Rawat had assured the sant samaj that he would review it soon.
Earlier this year, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had constituted a high-level committee to review the board. The committee submitted its final report to the chief minister on Sunday (November 28). The Minister for Religious Affairs, Satpal Maharaj, had also submitted a report on the same board to the Chief Minister.
VHP has been demanding the Union government and the state governments to free temples from state control.
The International Working President of VHP, Alok Kumar, thanked Chief Minister Dhami for dissolving the “Uttarakhand Devasthanam Board”.
“I thank the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his government for dissolving the Devasthanam Board… The Hindu temples should be run by the Hindu Samaj. I hope other state governments will also handover the administration of Hindu temples to the Hindu Samaj”, Alok Kumar said.
