Temple lands in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore to be auctioned: Minister

Hyderabad, Mar 29 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj and Endowments Minister J C Diwakar Reddy today said the government had decided to auction the temple lands belonging to the state endownments department in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Tirupathi and Visakhapatnam.

Talking to reporters here, he said the government had taken the decision to sell the temple lands encroached upon in public auction. The money earned from the auction would be deposited in the name of the respective trust boards, he said.

Stating that the management of Shirdi Sai and Kanyaka Parameswari temples would be left with the respective committees of the management, he said contribution to endowments administration fund would be collected from the institutions having income of more than Rs 3 lakh per annum at the rate of 12 per cent of their income.

Mr Reddy said 200 vacant posts of executive officers, 40 assistant commissioners and one deputy commisioner would be filled through the State Public Service Commission shortly.

Referring to the Chilkur Balaji temple controversy over the trust claiming that all the properties of the temple would not be transferred to the endowments department, Mr Reddy said the government would constitute a committee on this issue. A hundi (collection box) would also be installed in the Balaji temple, he added.

UNI AP ROY KD BST1912