Hyderabad: Obscurity over temple lands leads to huge revenue loss

Hyderabad: Hundreds of Hindu temples in the State are deprived of their rightful income through their properties, thanks to the callousness of the Endowments Department and the State government.

According to sources in the Telangana State Endowments Department, the Sitharamaswamy temple at Sitharampur has been deprived of its income from properties for the past several decades. Speaking to The Hans India, a senior official from the Endowments Department said the there is no proper records of 1,148 acres of Sitharampur temple.

"Anyone visiting the Sitharampur temple would not believe that it has such a huge land bank, in which, each acre is pegged at more than Rs 1 crore. Gross negligence of its upkeep is causing huge revenue loss to the temple," he added.

Also, there is no legal provision mandating fixing the rentals at the rates prevailing in the surrounding areas. Thus, while other landlords in the area are getting Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per acre per year, the temple is getting a pittance. Political interference was not uncommon in the united AP, forcing the Endowments Department to give temple lands for a petty price.

How many temples in Telangana are now facing the same problem even after the formation of a separate State is not known as there is no information available on any public platforms about the property details of temples.

An executive officer, on the condition of anonymity, said there were two problems. Firstly, the details of land records of temples and their status are not kept in the public domain. "If it is done, then there will be public scrutiny. Secondly, whenever there is a land acquisition, the Endowments Department remains a mute spectator and takes whatever compensation is given by the Revenue authorities. But there are several cases in which other landowners filed petitions before the Land Acquisition Tribunals (LAT), and went to courts for enhancement of land acquisition awards given by the Revenue officials."

When asked the reason for not placing the details of the temple properties and status in public domain, State Endowments Minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy said details were available at the office of the State Endowment Commissioner. "I will have to check with the Endowment Commissioner on the issue," he added.