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| Outsourcing of temple care draws political flak |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore Aug 20, 2008, 03:46 IST |
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But, state government refuses to budge.
Anti-outsourcing protests, which were a daily phenomenon in the US and the UK till recently, have now begun to rock Karnataka!
This time, however, it is not the state’s IT companies that are in the line of fire. Instead, it is the new BJP government that is drawing flak for outsourcing the maintenence of government-run temples to mutts.
The cause of the controversy was the government’s decision to hand over the centuries-old Sri Mahabaleshwara Temple at Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district to the Sri Ramachandrapura Mutt, which is headquartered in chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s home district of Shimoga. An important Shaiva centre of worship on the coastal belt, the temple draws lakhs of piligrims and its hundi collections alone add up to over Rs 10 lakh annually. The temple was under the aegis of the Muzrai department before it was handed over to the mutt following a government notification last week.
The mutt will get the hundi collection and in return will be expected to maintain the temple. It is not clear if the mutt will pay maintenance to the families which are dependent on the temple and have been receiving such payment from the Muzrai department.
Though the priests and other families that were dependent on the temple took to the streets protesting against the move, the government refused to budge.
Muzrai minister Krishnaiah Shetty, who had made news on an earlier occasion by making it mandatory for all government temples to perform poojas in CM Yeddyurappa’s name, defended the outsourcing activity stating: “The temple had not seen any improvement in the last couple of years. It was badly maintained. As Ramachandra Mutt authorities approached us stating that they would maintain the temple, we agreed.”
Though Shetty justified the move like any CEO of a company outsourcing work to India normally does, the decision has been cause for a major embarrassment to the BJP which is trying to don the ‘secular’ robe ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
In fact, the move has opened the Pandora’s Box for Yeddyurappa as several other religious mutts and prominent public personalities have started making a beeline to his office to bag maintenance contracts of other temples.
Citing the Gokarna temple outsourcing case, scion of Mysore Royal family and former MP Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar has requested the government to hand over the maintenance of 36 government-run temples that were part of the erstwhile Mysore maharaja’s kingdom to him. He has sought the transfer of the Chamundeshwari temple atop the Chamundi Hills in Mysore, dubbed an emerging IT destination.
Similarly, the Thontadarya Peetha of Gadag has sought the transfer of the famous Siddalingeshwara temple and mutt premises at Yediyur in Tumkur district’s Kunigal taluk to it. Making a case for the Karnataka government to outsource the temple maintenance to it, the peetha maintained that the move would protect the interests of the Veerashaiva community.
The peetha, which has submitted a written request to the government, is apparently backed by 35 MLAs, academicians and litterateurs. The Kaginele centre in Haveri district is also being sought by a mutt of the Kuruba community.
The government, however, has decided not to respond instantly. “We only wanted to outsource the Gokarna temple, but that has pushed us into the crisis-mode. So we have decided to buy time,” a minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet told Business Standard.
However, Shetty downplayed the controversy stating: “Whenever the government takes a decision, there are some who favour it and others who oppose it. In the case of Gokarna temple, we want to see how it works for a year or two. If the temple does not improve, we will not have any problem taking it back from the Mutt.”
But the political rivals — Congress and JD(S) — do not seem to be convinced.
“Since temple-outsourcing is a sensitive issue in terms of vote bank politics, we are thinking of strategies to take on the government,” a JD(S) leader said. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mallikarjun M Kharge said the move was unwarranted.
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