Puri: The state government is yet to reconstitute the Shree Jagannath Temple managing committee, the apex decision making body for the 12th century shrine, even though the tenure of the last panel ended July 22 this year.
Some intellectuals and religious scholars have expressed resentment over the state government’s failure to form the new committee for Srimandir. They are of the opinion that further delay in this regard may lead to a policy paralysis in the running of the temple.
As per the temple tradition, the state government reconstitutes the Srimandir managing committee every three years. The Gajapati king is the permanent chairperson of the 18-member strong panel. The state government usually appoints an executive chairperson for the temple committee.
The endowment commissioner, Law department additional secretary, Shree Jagannath temple chief administrator, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) superintendent, Puri collector and superintendent of police are the ex-officio members of the committee.
Apart from that, the apex decision making body Srimandir includes 10 nominated members from various fields of life. The state government usually nominates one representative each from Pujapanda, Pushpalak, Pratihari, Suar Mahasuar and Daita Niyog to the temple panel. Besides, a scholar from Muktimadap, a city-based pontiff and three intellectuals get nominated to the apex body.
It is learnt that the Srimandir chief administrator recommends names of eligible persons to be nominated to the panel. This time also, the chief administrator has sent his recommendations to the government after consulting various servitors’ groups or Niyogs.
According to sources, names of some controversial servitors have been forwarded to the state government for nomination to the managing committee.
“Some of these servitors have been facing allegations of land grab and other irregularities. Even, criminal cases are pending against some servitors. Moreover, some of them were blamed for the inordinate delay in the performance of Ghata Parivartan ritual during the 2015 Nabakalebara festival of the presiding deities. That is why the state government is in a dilemma on the issue of reconstitution,” said a source.
Meanwhile, researcher Naresh Chandra Dash urged the state government to form the managing panel for Srimandir at the earliest. “The Srimandir Managing Committee usually sits every two months to take a call on policy issues. The tenure of the last panel ended July 22. So, the state government should form a new panel immediately,” he pleaded.
Nebal Das mutt pontiff Ramcharan Das Maharaj has also appealed to the government to reconstitute the shrine managing panel as soon as possible.
“Srimandir is one of the famous shrines in the world. The state government should nominate people with required knowledge and expertise to the managing committee and there should not be any dilly-dallying on that,” Das said.
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