Temple tribunal to hear grievances of priests: U'khand CM Rawat

The Chardham Devasthanam Board on Friday decided to set up a tribunal to address the problems of temple priests and "haq haqukdharis", besides building a museum to preserve ancient manuscripts and other historically significant items at temples governed by the board.

The decisions were taken in the first meeting of the newly constituted board and it was chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat here.

"It has been decided to set up a tribunal to hear the suggestions or grievances of priests and the hak hakookdharis," Rawat said soon after chairing the meeting.

Priests and hak hakookdharis were opposed to the constitution of the board when it was created through a legislation passed by the state assembly a few months back as they felt insecure about their traditional rights over the temples.

The board was constituted to manage the affairs of 51 temples in Uttarakhand, including the famed Himalayan temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

The meeting also discussed in detail how to streamline the chardham yatra amid circumstances created by the coronavirus, Rawat said.

It was also decided to build a museum to preserve ancient manuscripts and other historically significant items kept at the temples under the purview of the board, he said.

Rawat said a provision of Rs 10 crore will also be made to the board.

The chief minister also said several temple committees could join the board in the future. "Several temple committees have expressed their willingness to join the board and may become part of it in future," he said.