BHUBANESWAR:Amidst growing demand for reforms in Sri Jagannath Temple, the State Government on Thursday constituted a three-member committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary in the Forest department Suresh Mohapatra, to study the management schemes of shrines such as Vaishno Devi, Golden Temple, Somnath Temple and Tirupati and recommend measures, if necessary.
The decision of the Law department comes after a Supreme Court order in this regard on June 8. While Mohapatra has been appointed chairperson of the committee, Inspector General (IG) of Police (Central Range) Soumendra Priyadarshi and member of Sri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee Mohimohan Tripathy will be the two other members. The committee will submit its report by June 30.
A bench comprising justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ashok Bhusan of the Supreme Court had asked the State Government to constitute the committee to suggest measures for reforms in the temple. The judgment came after hearing a petition regarding the difficulties faced by devotees in the temple.
Meanwhile, the State Government on Thursday issued a notification on the terms of reference (TOR) of the Commission of Inquiry set up to inquire into missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar of Sri Jagannath Temple, a duplicate set of which was found on Wednesday. The Commission, headed by retired judge of Orissa High Court Justice Raghubir Das, will submit its report within three months from the date of publication of notification.
According to the notification, the Commission will inquire into sequence of events and circumstances leading to the reported missing of the keys of the inner chamber of Ratna Bhandar, the role, conduct and accountability of individuals/groups/authorities and any other matter connected with or incidental thereto as the Commission may consider appropriate, including measures to be taken to avoid recurrence of such event in future.
The headquarters of the Commission has been fixed at Bhubaneswar. However, the Commission may hold the inquiry in Puri or any other place as may be considered necessary for the purpose, the notification stated.