BENGALURU: After the alleged financial fraud and embezzlement of donations at Ayodhya Ram temple surfaced, the Karnataka government has issued a comprehensive set of SoPs to strengthen security, transparency and accountability in temples under the Religious Endowments (Muzrai) Department, mandating enhanced CCTV surveillance, promotion of digital payments and stricter monitoring of hundi counting.
Under the new SoPs, temples have been directed to install hundis at suitable and clearly visible locations with adequate security. CCTV web cameras must be installed to provide surveillance of hundis from all four directions, with the footage stored on servers. The cameras will also be monitored by the Muzarai sections in the offices of Deputy Commissioners and Sub-Divisional Officers.
According to the circular, the government has proposed a central server at the Religious Endowments Department headquarters to facilitate monitoring of cameras installed across temples. CCTV feeds are also proposed to be linked to the offices of the DCs and police stations.
The guidelines stress that existing CCTV cameras and digital video recorders (DVR) in some temples have been stolen, damaged or made it non-functional. There have also been instances of camera lenses being obscured by carbon generated from burning camphor to facilitate theft. The installation of CCTV web cameras is aimed at preventing such incidents.
The circular also stress on cashless transactions and reduce the risks associated with devotees carrying cash in crowded places, temples have been directed to promote digital payments through UPI, BHIM, QR codes and other digital payment facilities.
Devotees will be able to make donations and pay for prasada, seva tickets and other temple services digitally. “QR codes should be installed only near hundis and must carry details of the respective bank, including the IFSC code. Temple authorities have also been directed to regularly inspect QR codes to prevent tampering or fraud, including attempts to paste fraudulent QR codes over official ones,” it stated.
On hundi collection, circular said revenue department officials must mandatorily participate in the hundi collection process and hundi-counting dates should be fixed in advance and marked on a calendar.
Temples receiving large amounts of donations and offerings should conduct hundi counting once a week, while those receiving moderate amounts should conduct it once every two weeks. The counting process must be carried out under the supervision of the jurisdictional Tahsildar.