Odisha govt plans to sell 35K acres Jagannath temple land
Bhubaneswar, Mar 21: The decision of the Navin Patnaik government in Odisha to sell the land of the Lord Jagannath Temple has come under the sharp criticism from the devotees who feel that this is the betrayal of the trust of the millions of Hindu devotees.
The Odisha state government has planned to sell over 35 thousand acre of land belonging to the world famous Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri.
The temple, one of the prominent Hindu religious pilgrimage centres since the yore, owns a good amount of land in and around the temple and also in some nearby states.
The state government has initiated the process to sell 35,272 acres of land in Odisha and six other states of India, state Law Minister Pratap Jena said in the State Assembly on Tuesday (March 16).
In a written reply to a question from BJP MLA Mohan Chandra Majhi, Minister Jena said as per the recommendations of a committee set up under the chairmanship of the then Governor B. D. Sharma, the state government is taking necessary steps to sell 35,272.235 acres of land properties of the Jagannath temple, the Post News Network reported.
The Minister further said that Lord Jagannath owns 60,426.943 acres of land spread over 24 of the 30 districts of the state of Odisha. Out of this, the temple administration could prepare the final Record of Rights (RoR) of over 34,876.983 acres.
“In accordance with the recommendations of the committee, steps are being taken to sell out the land as per state government's approved Uniform Policy (Saman Niti),” the Minister told the Assembly.
Meanwhile, the state government has already sold out 315.337 acres of Jagannath Temple land including Bharati Math building in Cuttack city and Rs. 11.20 crore earned from the land sale were deposited in the temple corpus fund, the Minister said.
He also said that steps are being taken to sell 395.252 acres land identified in six other states outside Odisha. The government has communicated to the concerned district collectors in this purpose, he added.
The 12th century Jagannath Temple is one of the prime seats of Vaishnava Sect and has followers in many states of the country. According to the sources the temple has maximum of 322.930 acres of land in West Bengal, adjacent to Odisha where Vaishnava Sect flourished under the Bhakti Movement of saints ‘Nitai and Nimai’. The devotees of Lord Jagannath here have donated to the Lord huge lands and other properties in the past.
The second state having large land properties measuring 28.218 acres is Maharashtra followed by 25.110 acres in Madhya Pradesh, 17.020 acres in Andhra Pradesh, 1.700 acres in Chhattisgarh and 0.274 acres in Bihar.
The Minister further said that about 100 acre land was identified at Bagha area and the government is collecting share amount of paddy each year from the sharecroppers.
A Khamari has been engaged at Dochhian to take care of land properties located in the area, he said, adding, paddy collected from the Dochhian area also sold each year.
Besides, 582.255 acres located in Khurda was given to Odisha Cashew Development Corporation (OCDC) on a lease basis. In return, the government is getting Rs. 3 lakh from the corporation each year, the Minister told.
According to sources, people who have occupied the Jagannath Mandir land for than 30 years would have to pay Rs 6 lakh per acre to take the temple land in possession. Those who have acquired the Mandir land for less than 30 years but more than 20 years would have to pay Rs. 9 lakh per acre to purchase the plots.
Besides, individuals who have occupied the temple plots for less than 20 years but more than 12 years would have to pay a hefty sum of Rs 15 lakh per acre, the sources said.
The State Government constituted four commissions to bring reforms and to probe various incidents related to the Jagannath Temple. These panels are – Justice B K Patra Commission, Justicce P K Mohanty Commission, Justice B P Das Commission and a committee headed by B D Sharma, the Minister told the House.
Further to implement the various recommendations of these commissions, a committee headed by the temple chief administrator was formed following the approval of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, the Minister informed the state assembly.
This action of the state government has evoked sharp reaction amongst the devotees across the states who feel that this is the betrayal of the trust of the millions of Hindu devotees of Lord Jagannath.