Temple control row: Tamil Nadu to digitise, make public all assets

As next step, the official said, “all temple assets and land records would be registered in the name of deities… to prevent individuals and other entities from attempts to usurp assets”. The digitisation decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Sekar Babu.

Recently, the matter of control over temples in Tamil Nadu had blown up into a controversy after Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan, reacting to Jaggi Vasudev’s demand to “free temples”, called him a “commercial operator” and a “publicity hound” in an interview to The Hindu. Rajan, whose uncle M T Subramania Mudaliar had played a role in the enactment of the Hindu Religious Endowment Act, 1921, and whose family continues to be part of the administration of Madurai Meenakshi temple, said in a tweet on Wednesday, “Most warriors for ‘privatising temples’ have negligible contribution, if any at all… In fact, many of the ‘privatise’ dispositions historically made a living out of the temples’ assets and donations received.”

In the tweet, Rajan said that evidence with him against Vasudev convinced him beyond all probable doubt that he had “repeatedly, consistently and continuously violated multiple laws and statutes”. He said he will submit these evidences to relevant authorities.

In response to Rajan’s statements, Isha Foundation listed out Jaggi Vasudev’s “contributions” and “services”, and said “all of this work has been done with the support of people and the government of Tamil Nadu”. “We are therefore appalled that a man (Vasudev) of his stature has been subject to the minister’s unparliamentary and uncalled for personal attack… It is deeply unfortunate that a person holding high public office should resort to name-calling of a highly respected public figure.”

Elaborating on the digitisation plan, a government official said, numerous cases were pending in courts regarding temples. “We decided to digitise to the core,” the official said, adding that the task is mammoth, involving scanning of tonnes of land records and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping. “It will also help the government take action in case of illegal possessions and encroachments… The GIS mapping will help prepare digital models with 3D images capturing all the properties of a temple.”

The digitisation work will be overseen by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran, who had successfully accomplished digitisation and GIS mapping of about 34,000 acres of industrial land in the state to showcase the same for potential investors.