VIJAYAWADA: Deputy Chief Minister and Endowments Minister Kottu Satyanarayana has refuted the allegations made by the state president of a national party for the last two days that funds of Hindu temples were diverted in the State. Speaking to the media at the Interim Government Complex, Velagapudi, on Monday, Satyanarayana said that every time the State with an income of `5 lakh and above is required to deposit 9 per cent of its income under the Common Good Fund (CGF) to the Endowments Department.
However, under the YSRC government, temples with an income above `20 lakh only are paying the CGF. “It is unfortunate that the state president of the national party criticised the government without knowing this fact. In addition to the eight main temples, a master plan is being prepared for the full-scale development of 32 other temples in the State. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy holds weekly review meetings with their department officials for the development of various temples in the state,” the minister said.
Satyanarayana said that 8 per cent of the revenue of temples with high income is deposited as Endowments Administrative Fund, 1.5 per cent as Audit Fund, 9 per cent as CGF and another 3 per cent as Priest Welfare Fund, as prescribed by law. From these amounts, the government was making payments for the maintenance of temples that do not have sufficient income, and for conducting daily rituals as per requests. As many as 3,365 such requests are pending with them as of late, he said. More flexibility is being given to the temples in the backward Uttarandhra and Rayalaseema districts and scheduled constituencies for extending financial assistance.
The government has decided to conduct an audit on the income and expenses of all temples by the end of March 2022. Officials sought an extended deadline of September 2022 to complete the audit, the minister said. The allegations that the government is spending endowments funds for other religions are also not true, he said. Reacting to a question, the endowments minister said that the governing councils of various temples will remain in power until the expiry of their term.