BHUBANESWAR/PURI : AS the controversy over missing keys of Ratna Bhandar of Sri Jagannath Temple deepened, the State Government on Monday changed the chief administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Pradip Kumar Jena. Principal Secretary in the School and Mass Education Department Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra was given additional charge as the chief administrator of SJTA in place of incumbent Jena.
Meanwhile, Puri District Judge Ambuj Mohan Das visited Sri Jagannath Temple office and held discussions on nitee (rituals), development and security of the 12th century temple in the wake of Supreme Court directive on preventing exploitation of devotees and streamlining of the shrine’s affairs and management.
Later, the the District Judge attended a meeting of Chhatisa Nijoga (the apex body of the priests). The District Judge said the apex court directive to prevent malpractice and mismanagement in temple affairs, including hassle-free visit of devotees and their offerings, should be implemented before June 30.
Soon after Chhatisa Nijoga meeting, chief administrator Jena released an audio tape of the meeting. The entire directive of the apex court was read out and explained to the servitors.
The SJTA chief said most of the members have given their consent to cooperate. The dissenting members were advised to entertain their pleas by becoming intrevenor to present their case. The District Judge said if any Chhatisa Nijoga member has any grievance, he could file affidavits before June 20.
Meanwhile, SJTA PRO Laxmidhar Pujapanda said collection from ‘hundi’ has now gone up to `10 lakh after the Supreme Court directive on Friday. However, temple reports reveal that though the administration had notified to the servitors not to collect donation from devotees and not to place any ‘thaals’ in the temple, donation box was seen in the Jagamohan. Puri Collector Arvind Agarwal and Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sarangi were also present in the meeting.