Uttarakhand govt to set up Char Dham shrine board

The Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a Charm Dham shrine board to manage over 50 temples located in the state, including the four holy shrines - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

The decision was taken in a state cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The Bill regarding this will be introduced in the upcoming winter session of the Uttarakhand Assembly starting from December 4.

"Chief Minister will be the chairperson of the Board (to manage the temples). If there is a non-Hindu Chief Minister, then a senior Hindu minister would be the chairperson," said Uttarakhand Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik.

However, the decision of the state government has been criticised by the Opposition.

"It is not a very well thought decision of the government as they did not hold consultations with the temple stakeholders, priests and others. The government is eying the collections from these temples," Manoj Rawat, MLA, Kedarnath, told ANI.

The vice-president of Char Dham Vikas Parishad, Shiv Prasad has also resigned from his post.