At meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah, Sadhus’ body fuss over ‘slow’ Kumbh work

“We requested Amit Shah to pay attention to the Kumbh and the sprucing up of Allahabad for tourists and devotees as was done at the Sabarmati riverfront in Gujarat. We requested him to come and see what needs to be done. He assured us that he will,” said Hari Giri, the Parishad secretary who met Shah along with Parishad chief Narendra Giri and 13 member sadhus.

Sources said the delegation also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh later.

“We keep meeting the CM and he assures us work is on for the Kumbh. But nothing is being done on the ground. Even the budget allocation for construction of sadhu awas in each of the 13 akharas has not been released. None of the officers consult us on anything,” said Mahant Agradas, who was at the meeting with Shah.

While Narendra Giri could not be reached for comments, his aide Mahant Anand Giri said, “We are experts in Hindu sanatan dharm. How can we not be consulted over its most important event? There is hardly any time for the Kumbh and the rains will soon set in. Work is being done at a snail’s pace.”

“The Kumbh has been tagged an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UN. If we are not ready to host the crores of visitors, it will be an embarrassment. That is why we needed to approach the Centre,” he added. “The UP CM’s office offered to hear us out after the meeting with Amit Shah was fixed. But we went ahead anyway because we needed to be heard,” Anand Giri said.

Maintaining that preparations were in order, District Magistrate (Kumbh) Vijay Kiran Anand, said, “We held two rounds of talks with the Parishad and another is scheduled for April 1. We have sent the proposal for the fund allocation for the sadhus’ accommodation to the Cabinet and expect it to be cleared soon.”

“Preparations are on schedule and third party checks for quality control is also on. Almost Rs 2,000 crore has been sanctioned for 246 projects. We are seeking the Parishad’s blessings,” he added.