Uttarakhand govt scraps Devasthanam Board

Dehradun, November 30

The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday decided to scrap the Chardham Devasthanam Board.

“After studying all aspects of the issue, we have decided to withdraw the Chardham Devasthanam Board Act,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said.

Chardham priests had been demanding scrapping of the board ever since its creation in 2019, saying it was an infringement of their traditional rights over the temples.

A high-level committee constituted by Dhami to look into the Devasthanam Board issue had  submitted its recommendations to the chief minister in Rishikesh on Sunday. 

“We went through the details of the report submitted by the panel headed by Manohar Kant Dhyani. After considering all aspects of the issue our government has decided to withdraw the Act,” Dhami said.

Constituted during the tenure of former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the Chardham Devasthanam Board managed the affairs of 51 temples across the state, including the Himalayan temples of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. PTI