BHUBANESWAR: Facing criticism over the delay in reconstituting the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC) even after a year of assuming power in the state, the BJP government on Tuesday announced 10 new members of the panel including former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Girish Chandra Murmu.
Absence of the full-fledged 18-member committee was hampering the administration and management of affairs at the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri.
While the committee already has eight members including Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb as its head, the state Law department has appointed 10 more members in accordance with the provisions of Section 6(1) of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1954.
Apart from Murmu, who had also served as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, representative of Mukti Mandap Siddheswar Mohapatra, servitors Krushna Chandra Samantaray, Madhusudan Singhari, Jagannath Pujapanda, Ganesh Dasmahapatra and Ramanarayan Gochhayat, Raghubir Das Maharaj of Balaramkot Matha who will be representing Mathas and other religious institutions, chartered accountant AK Sabat and Mahesh Kumar Sahoo of Angul have been appointed as the new members.
The members who are already a part of the committee include chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, temple administrator Arabinda Padhee, and commissioner of Endowments Lalatendu Jena. The ex-officio members are Puri collector and SP, additional secretary of Law department Siba Mohapatra and ASI superintending archaeologist DB Garnayak.
The last managing committee was nominated on August 12, 2021 with its tenure ending in August last year. Absence of the new committee impacted implementation of many key policy decisions that have been taken for the 12th century shrine by the government.
According to the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, the managing committee has to approve all decisions of the shrine including rituals, budget to structural conservation before they are implemented by the state government.
Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said the new managing committee will look into implementation of the decisions and most importantly, work on Ratna Bhandar inventory. “Shifting of iron chests into the Ratna Bhandar, counting and inventory of the precious jewels and ornaments besides Dhadi darshan will be taken up by the managing committee. The new panel was approved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday,” the minister informed.
He added that the managing committee in its first meeting will discuss shifting of the temple ‘hundi’ which is inside the Natya Mandap, for implementation of Dhadi darshan.
Harichandan announced that the new darshan system will begin on September 15. Under the ‘Dhadi’ system, a six-lane barricade method will be implemented within the shrine to streamline devotees’ entry into the Natya Mandap.