Info on TN temple property, administration to go online for public viewing

Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Minister P K Sekar Babu has directed officials to make available exhaustive information on temples and their properties besides administration, online for the benefit of the public.

Particulars on the temple property should be uploaded for public viewing, the minister said. There are about 36,612 temples across the state in addition to mutts and charitable endowments under the ambit of the department.

Babu, who chaired a meeting with senior officials here on Tuesday said information on the temples under the control of the department should be uploaded for easy access for the members of the public. According to an official release here on Wednesday, it was decided during the meeting to include geocoding of temple lands, buildings, and property details and provide these particulars online.

Information on temple administration, officials, services, festivals, and records pertaining to the temples should be uploaded. Further, the title deeds of moveable and immovable properties in the name of the temples should be scanned and uploaded, the release quoting Sekar Babu, said. Also, he had instructed the authorities to retrieve temple property from encroachers, collect fair rent and act expeditiously to increase temple revenue.

HR and CE commissioner J Kumara Gurubaran, additional commissioners Ramana Saraswati and N Thirumagal were among those who participated in the meeting.