Endowment Land Belongs to God, Not Government: Dharmika Mandali

VIJAYAWADA: Hindu Dharmika Mandali, which came into being on Wednesday, demanded that the state government should not treat endowment land as its own and use it for purposes other than it is intended for. “The owner of the land is God himself. The government is only a trustee to the land. The government should pay the temples the value of the land it had taken from them for various purposes,” Dharmika Mandali convenor Velagapudi Ramakrishna said on Wednesday.

In a statement here, he said it was also important that the trust boards of the temples should not have on them anyone whose faith is other than Hinduism and non-Hindus and those who have no faith in Hinduism should summarily be removed from the posts of executive officers of temples.

The Dharmika Mandali also sought constitution of a Bhakta Sabha for each temple which should meet once a month to review and initiate measures for protection of sanctity of the temple, proper maintenance, protection of temple’s properties. These meetings should be held on the premises of the temples in the presence of elders.

The Mandali also made it clear that clear instructions should be given to the executive officers, trust board members and the staff of temples to listen carefully to the suggestions and prepare necessary reports. They should readily furnish the members of Bhakara Sabhas with information that they seek from the temple administration. The Mandali stressed that it was essential that Bhakta Sabhas should be out of the influence of politicians. The Dharmika Mandali’s members are: MVR Sastry, editor Andhra Bhoomi, I Sundara Rao, retired IAS officer and Kauta Lalita Manohar of Vijayawada.

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