HR&CE dept ropes in private firm to improve Annadhanam scheme

CHENNAI: Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P K Sekarbabu on Tuesday launched an application to check the quality of the food served to the devotees of various temples under the Annadhanam scheme.

The private firm would conduct the quality of the food served under the Anandhanam scheme three times a year in each of the temples and submit a report. It would carry out quality checks in a minimum of 125 temples in a month.

This would help the department to ensure the quality of food to the devotees under the Annadhanam scheme, the minister said after handing over an order to M/S Quest Certification Pvt Ltd that would carry out the quality check of the food served under the free meal scheme in temples.

A total of 82,000 devotees are benefitting daily under the Annadhanam scheme. It has been implemented in 764 temples, while a day-long free meal scheme is being implemented in eight temples, said the minister.

He further said that the department is planning to extend the day-long Annadhanam scheme to five more temples this year.

The private firm would conduct the quality of the food served under the Anandhanam scheme three times a year in each of the temples and submit a report. It would carry out quality checks in a minimum of 125 temples in a month.

This would help the department to ensure the quality of food to the devotees under the Annadhanam scheme, the minister added.

HR & CE dept retrieves Rs 100 cr property of the trust

The Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) has retrieved Rs 100 crore worth property of from Gurulakshmi Amman Trust. Nearly 80 percent of commercial complexes and plots of the trust in Panrotti Nagar in Cuddalore were under encroachment.

As per the Madras High Court direction, the official of the department took measures to retrieve the property and handed them over to the trust, according to a statement from the HR & CE department.