DEHRADUN, Dec 1: The Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act was withdrawn on
Tuesday by the Uttarakhand Government following protests by priests and saints
for the last two years. The Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board,
which was set up in accordance with the Act, will be abolished. Like the farmers'
laws, which were just repealed this week following a year-long agitation as
the elections are round the corner, it was feared that the protests against
the Devasthanam Management Act likewise would hamper the ruling party's prospects
at the hustings. Uttarakhand, alongwith other States, will go to the polls early
next year.
The legislation was made in 2019 by the BJP Government led by then Chief Minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Bill sought to bring the Char Dhams of Badrinath,
Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and 49 other temples under the purview of
a shrine board. The Bill was passed by the Assembly and came to be known as
the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019. Subsequently, the
Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Board was also set up on January 15, 2020.
Earlier, the Shri Badrinath-Shri Kedarnath Act, 1939, was in force.
The lacal priests, pandas and rawals who had been managing the donations and
assets and administering these Char Dhams through local outfits found that the
new legislation deprived them of their traditional rights and powers and the
Government was usurping the administration through the new board, launched a
protracted agitation demanding repeal of the Act. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) supported the agitation.
The priests suspended the agitation when the new Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh
Dhami, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kedarnath on November
5, promised them that the Government would consider their demand before November
30 as the committee report was awaited. On November 1, the priests had prevented
Trivendra Singh Rawat from praying at the Kedarnath shrine and threatened to
do the same with Modi.
In July, Dhami, when he became Chief Minister, had formed a five-member committee
to look into the matter. The committee submitted its report last week and the
State Government decided to repeal the Act.
Trivendra Singh Rawat lost the Chief Minister's post partly because of the
widespread protest against the new Devasthanam Management Act. His successor
Tirath Singh Rawat promised to review the law but soon he was replaced by the
present Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, who now finally made the announcement
of withdrawal of the Act on Tuesday.
The withdrawal needs to be approved by the Cabinet and a repeal done through
another Bill in the Assembly.
Reacting to the withdrawal, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Harish
Rawat said the decision was out of fear of losing votes in the upcoming Assembly
election.
“Most of these provisions of this Act (Shri Badrinath-Shri Kedarnath Act, 1939)
are no longer relevant in the present context. In view of this, the Uttarakhand
Char Dham Shrine Management Bill is proposed. This Bill will thus prove to be
a milestone for the rejuvenation of Shri Badrinath, Shri Kedarnath, Gangotri,
Yamunotri and other famous temples…,” the statement of objects and reasons in
the Uttarakhand Char Dham Shrine Management Bill had said.
