Dharmarth Trust awaits govt instructions to open shrines

Tribune News service

Jammu, June 10

The Dharmarth Trust has prepared itself and put in place all arrangements such as observing social distancing and sanitisation of visitors and shrines. It is now awaiting the government guidelines for the reopening of religious places in Jammu and Kashmir.

The trust is the custodian of most Hindu shrines, including Shankaracharya and Kheer Bhawani in Kashmir and the Raghunath temple and Bawe Wali Mata shrine in Jammu. The erstwhile Dogra family is the sole trustee of the trust.

Secretary, J&K Dharmarth Trust, Mubarik Singh said before the opening of the shrines, all required standard operating procedures had been taken into account, including complete sterilisation of the shrines.

The trust secretary said the ‘pujaris’ and other staff were not dependent on the devotees’ offerings for their salaries. He said on the directions of the chairman, Karan Singh, all employees had been paid regular salary during the lockdown.

“We had got instructions from the chairman to ensure all staff members as well as employees in various shrines and temples should get time-bound salary during the pandemic and the trust is doing its job perfectly. There has been no cut in the salaries,” said Mubarik Singh.