Unable to persuade the chairman and members of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Mandir Samiti to quit their positions, the Khanduri Government has dissolved the committee citing allegations of corruption and irregularities. The Samiti had been appointed by the previous Congress Government. With the committee, headed by Anusuya Parsad Maikhiuri, a former Congress legislator from Kedarnath, dissolved, the Chamoli District Magistrate has been appointed administrator. The Samiti manages the Hindu shrines at Badrinath and Kedarnath.Maikhiuri had refused to resign after the BJP came to power in February 2007. The Khanduri Government then raised allegations of corruption and irregularities against the committee and ordered an inquiry. Religious Affairs Minister Parkash Pant said the Government decided to dissolve the Samiti after Maikhiuri failed to respond to the charges levelled on the basis of the inquiry report. Chief Minister Maj Gen B C Khanduri (retd) had been highly critical of the tendency among certain Congress leaders to cling on to their political positions even after the defeat of their party. Interestingly, the latest move seems to have had the desired effect as Uttarakhand Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission chairman Narayan Ram Arya resigned from his post on Tuesday.
