Uttarakhand to repeal Char Dham Devasthanam Board Act following protests by priests, VHP

The Uttarakhand government has given its approval to bring a bill in the state Assembly for repeal of the Char Dham Devasthanam Board Bill . The decision of the state cabinet comes after the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had earlier announced the withdrawal of the law after protests opposing the act had happened in the state, according to ANI. The protests were carried out by Char Dham Teerth-Purohit Hak Hakook Dari Mahapanchayat Samiti and other organisations.

The Uttarakhand Assembly in December 2020, passed the Char Dham Devasthanam Board Bill. The law was introduced by the state government in order to bring Char Dham of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and 49 other temples under state control, as per news agency. The government had proposed to bring all these temples under the purview of a proposed shrine board. However, the decision of the government was not welcomed by the organisations and came with huge protests.

After almost two years of protests against the legislation by the priests of the shrines in the state, the Uttarakhand CM announced the decision to take back the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill. The Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami had also urged the people to end their protests. The organisations including Char Dham Teerth-Purohit Hak Hakookdhari Mahapanchayat Samiti were opposing the legislation. The temple priests had claimed that the bill was an encroachment upon their rights and had further demanded its dissolution. 

Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Act

After the government had announced its decision of withdrawing the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill, the Chardham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat and Vishva Hindu Parishad had welcomed the move. They had termed the decision as "historical" and expressed gratitude to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for taking this decision., according to ANI

Brijesh Sati, Spokesperson, Chardham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat had informed that it was for the first time that the act passed by the assembly was withdrawn by the state government, according to ANI. Alok Kumar, the working international president of Vishva Hindu Parishad, welcomed the decision and further said that they will continue to make efforts so that government does not have control over temples.  

Inputs from ANI

Image: Twitter/@OfficeofDhami