#FreeTemple from TN govt! HRCE office misuses temple funds to buy toiletry

Interestingly, a vicious policy of seizing control over temples to take over their land and revenues was begun by the East India Company, 200 years ago.

NewsBharati    03-Jan-2023 17:32:06 PM
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The voice demanding to "free" temples from state government control has been again starting rising on social media. This comes after Tamil Nadu government-led Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) which controls Hindu Temples in the state, has once again been caught misusing temple funds.
 
HRCE
 
 
As per the reports, the funds belonging to one temple in Tamil Nadu were being used to buy toiletries for the staff working in Thanjavur Joint Commissioner’s office. The matter came to light after a social media user, TR Ramesh, who is also a temple activist, made a shocking revelation on Twitter.
 
 
 
As per the photos of the bill shared by Ramesh, the Nadiamman temple in Pattukottai, Thanjavur paid Rs 12,400 to buy a "European Water Closet". The receipt from the temple says that the money was forwardedfor some "repair work", it can be seen from the bill submitted by HRCE that it was used to buy a western toilet.
 
This is not the first time that the Tamil Nadu government has misappropriated temple funds. HRCE has misused the funds of the Mylapore Kapaleeswarar temple to buy Rs 16 lakh rs car of HRCE officials. A similar thing has also happened with the funds of the Thiruverkadu KaruMariamman temple.
 
 
 
For unreserved, it should be noted, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments control only Hindu Temples under the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act which was passed in 1925. This act gave the state government, the authority to set up a department called the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, to maintain and manage the finances and accounts of Hindu temples.
  
 
 
As per the data, the department controls over 36,425 temples, 56 mutts or religious orders (and 47 temples belonging to mutts), 1,721 specific endowments, and 189 trusts. The annual revenue from all of this is Rs 128 crore.Apart from using those funds to pay the salaries of temple staff, it is also being used for schemes.
 
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier asked 47 temples to donate total of rupees 10 crores to the CM Relief Fund to fight Chinese coronavirus.

Where the funds were being used ?

The state government has ordered the distribution of 5,450 tonnes of free rice to 2,985 mosques of the state on April 16 in the month of Ramzan, so that those who were keeping Rojas would not suffer. This rice at Rs 21/kg will cost the Tamil Nadu government little over Rs 11 crore.
 
 
 
 
 
Interestingly, a vicious policy of seizing control over temples to take over their land and revenues was begun by the East India Company, 200 years ago.

The hypocrisy of the act
 
It is to be noted that, only Hindu and Jain temples are put under such a department to manage their finances. Temples of other religions are given the freedom to manage their affairs, as provided by Article 26 of the Indian constitution.
 
How they are handling temples
 
As per the department, 11,999 temples in the state, and there is no pooja or ritual taking place as there is no revenue. In 34,000 temples, there is only one person to manage all the affairs of the space. While 37,000 temples record revenue of less than Rs 10,000 per annum. They estimated that around 12,000 temples will die in the next few years. 
 
 
 
An official statement by the government attests that 1,200 deities have gone missing, or stolen. Several police officers have written books claiming that thousands of deities are fake, as the original idols have been stolen and replaced with counterfeits in the last 25 years.
 
Deceiving faithfulness of Tamil Nadu govt
 
It also is alleged that under the department temple lands have been encroached on by land grabbers. As per the reports, in 1985 Temples have 5.25 Lakh acres of land and in 2020 it is 4.78 Lakh acres of land. 47,000 acres of land have gone missing in Tamil Nadu. These lands, which have been illegally transferred to various other owners, are worth thousands of crores of rupees or more.
 
Temple  
 
In all this, the literal irony is that the Tamil Nadu government is taking from the temple but not giving it back. Hundreds of Hindu temples including ancient ones have been demolished under the current DMK government.
HRCE office Tamil Nadu India Mylapore Kapaleeswarar temple Nadiamman temple Jain temples