Uttarakhand: CM Dhami announces repeal of Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill

Bringing relief to the protesting priests, the Uttarakhand government has announced repealing the Char Dham Devasthanam Board Management Bill on Tuesday. Announcing the same, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami informed the government's decision to take back the controversial act. This came after a report reviewed by a high-level committee set up by the Uttarakhand government was submitted to Dhami in the presence of State Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal and cabinet ministers Subodh Uniyal and Satpal Maharaj. The report suggests the Chief Minister take back the act which brings more than 50 temples under the state government's control.

The report drafted by the committee was headed by former Rajya Sabha member Manohar Kant Dhyani and was formed in August this year. Earlier, the committee had submitted its interim report to the state government on October 25.

Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill

The Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board which remained a centre of protests by the priest community in Uttarakhand for about two years now, was initially formed by former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat when he came to power in 2017. During this while, the body was formed by the state government to regulate the Char Dham - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, and many other temples under the Uttarakhand government. Following this, Rawat's cabinet also approved a draft for the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Bill 2019 and later tabled it in the state assembly which triggered massive chaos cares inside and outside the Assembly. 

Later, the Act was enacted and came to be known as Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act 2019. However, this came with huge protests by the priests who opposed the formation of the board and the bill, which they believed was an encroachment upon their rights and further demanded its dissolution. Later, former CM Tirath Singh Rawat made an effort to take back the laws and introduced plans for the same. But after he resigned, CM Dhami announced about reviewing the Act during his visit to Uttarkashi this year and formed a committee headed by Manohar Kant, Badrinath Temple Committee chief. 

(With agency inputs)

Image: ANI