Char Dham priests' body to hold meeting on Devasthanam Act on November 22

Char Dham Teerth-Purohit Hak Hakookdhari Mahapanchayat Samiti will hold a meeting in Dehradun on November 22 in protest against the Devasthanam Management Board, to finalize the next strategy to oppose the Devasthanam Act.

This decision was taken in the online meeting of the priests presided over by Suresh Semwal, the convener of Mahapanchayat on Friday.

Mahapanchayat spokesperson Brijesh Sati said that no decision has been taken by the government so far for dissolving the Devasthanam Board.

It was decided in this meeting that at the worship places of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham, a sit-in protest would be started against the Devasthanam Act.

Last December, the Uttarakhand assembly had passed the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board Bill.

The bill, aimed at bringing the Char Dham of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and 49 other temples under the purview of a proposed shrine board, was passed in the Assembly and became the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019.

Earlier, according to the temple priests, their rights are being played due to the formation of this board.

According to the Kedarnath Teerth Purohit Samaj earlier said, "Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had assured to reconsider the board soon after becoming the Chief Minister. However, now instead of reconsidering, the board is being expanded, which will not be tolerated at all," they said.

While, According to State Chief Secretary Om Prakash, "We protest the state government's decision to form the Devasthanam Board without taking shrine priests of 61 other temples into confidence".

The agitation against the board has been going for 21 months, said the Mahapanchayat president earlier.

( With inputs from ANI )