Countering the allegations by the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the State government has made amendments to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, to “take away a share of the rich temple’s income” to be used for other purposes, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah termed the allegation as “deliberate misinformation”.
Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy clarified that the money so taken would be in the ‘Common Pool Fund’, which will be administered by the Rajya Dharmika Parishat. The parishat will, among other objectives, fund poor ‘C’ grade temples and provide several facilities for temple priests and their families, including health insurance and scholarships.
“The Common Pool Fund is utilised only for the benefit of religious purposes of Hindu religious institutions since the Act came into force in 2003 and in future also, it will be utilised for the same purpose,” Mr. Reddy said in a statement, adding that the BJP should first read the law, rather than spread “baseless canards”. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the BJP was deliberately “trying to polarise people along communal lines”.
What the BJP said
Earlier, BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra alleged the amendments brought by the Congress government would ensure the State government takes away 10% of the income of temples whose income is over ₹1 crore annually. “The money donated by Hindu devotees has to be used only for providing facilities for devotees and upliftment of temples and if it is used for other purposes, it will hurt the religious beliefs of devotees,” he said. BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted on similar lines.
In a press note issued on Thursday, Mr. Reddy said the Common Pool Fund was not a new initiative and was established in 2003. He further said the 1997 Act was amended in 2011, when the BJP was in power, to take 5% of the net income of institutions whose annual income is in the range of ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh, and 10% of the net income of institutions whose annual income is above ₹10 lakh.
“Through this, the Common Pool Fund has been collecting ₹8 crore annually, which is not sufficient for funding all poorer temples and taking up welfare measures for priests,” Mr. Reddy said, defending the need for the amendment. The State government has now brought an amendment according to which henceforth all temples whose annual income is less than ₹10 lakh need not contribute to the Common Pool Fund, temples whose annual income is in the range of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore have to contribute 5% of their income and those temples with above ₹1 crore annual income 10%.
Composite institutions
Reacting to the BJP taking exception to a provision in the law to also allow the appointment of members from other religions, Mr. Reddy said there were two “composite institutions” belonging to the department, namely, Sri Guru Dattatreya Baba Budan Swamy Dargah, Chikkamagaluru, and Sri Bhootaraya Chowdeshwari and Sadath Ali Dargah, Teerthahalli, to which it is applicable. He said the BJP was trying to deliberately “mislead” by implying it was applicable to all religious institutions.