Yadagirigutta gram panchayat awaits 1.5 cr temple grant

Yadadri: After the formation of separate State, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao laid special focus on Yadagirigutta shrine. Besides changing the name to Yadadri, the government had allocated hundreds of crores for the makeover of the temple in order to elevate it as a world class shrine.

While this is one side of the historic place, on the other side, Yadagirigutta Gram Panchayat has been providing drinking water and maintaining cleanliness for the convenience of devotees. It further looks after the maintenance of roads and cleaning of cottages at Yadadri.

For these services, the temple has been paying taxes in the form of grant. Following the 1974 Act, which states that Endowment department has to bear 30 per cent of the total maintenance cost of gram panchayat every year, the temple authorities have, so far, been following the rule. However, it came to be known that the grant to gram panchayat from Yadadri temple was stalled after the formation of Telangana State.

As per official information, during 2014-15 fiscal year, of the Rs 39 lakh grant, the temple had paid only Rs 35 lakh. Further, the temple failed to make payments of Rs 69 lakh for 2015-16 and Rs 66 lakh for 2016-17 financial years to the gram panchayat. In total, the Yadadri temple has to pay as many as Rs 1.50 crore to gram panchayat. Meanwhile, local body representatives have been urging the temple authority to extend their cooperation to Yadagirigutta gram panchayat by clearing the dues.

Speaking to The Hans India, Yadadri temple Executive Officer Geetha admitted that temple has dues of more than Rs 1 crore to gram panchayath. She informed that earlier the village was small and maintenance cost of roads, drinking water and sanitation was less. Now, as the village has been expanding, the maintenance cost has been growing multifold. As per the 1972 Act, temple has to pay minimum of Rs 30 lakh per annum under 30 per cent grant and go on increasing with the expansion of the village. Commissioner of Endowments has not been providing any budget sanctions with regard to Yadagiripally (Yadagirigutta) gram panchayat, she informed.

She further informed that she had written to the respective commissioner with regard to gram panchayat grant dues and suggested the top officials either sanction all the 30 per cent grant amount or fix some amount per annum as a grant as a amicable solution to reduce the burden of increasing grant amount year by year.