Karnataka Guv Thaawarchand Gehlot reserves temple bill for Presidential assent
Bengaluru, May 24 (PTI): Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, one which aims to benefit priests serving in low income temples, for the assent of the President.
The bill was passed by the Karnataka Assemby on March 6, 2024 and submitted to the Governor afresh on May 16, 2025.
It aims to enhance the common pool of funds from the high income generating temples and improve the lives of priests serving in low income temples, a source in the Religious Endowment Department said.
Karnataka Religious Endowment Minister Ramalinga Reddy had earlier said that there are 3,000 C-Grade temples in the state which have less than Rs five lakh income from where 'Dharmika Parishad' gets no money.
Dharmika Parishad is a committee to improve the temple management for the benefit of pilgrims.
There are B-grade temples with income between Rs five lakh and Rs 25 lakh from where five per cent of the gross income has been going to the Dharmika Parishad since 2003, he explained.
The Dharmika Parishad has been getting 10 per cent of revenue from those temples whose gross income was above Rs 25 lakh since 2003, the Minister said.
"Now what we have done is we have made it free from paying to Dharmika Parishad if the income is up to Rs 10 lakh. We have made provisions to collect five per cent from temples whose gross income is between Rs 10 lakh and less than one crore. Ten per cent of the income will be collected from temples whose income is above Rs one crore. All this amount will reach the Dharmika Parishad," Reddy had said.
The Minister had said there were 40,000 to 50,000 priests in the state whom the state government wants to help.
"If the money reaches Dharmika Parishad then we can provide them insurance cover. We want their families to get at least Rs five lakh if something happens to them. To pay the premium we need Rs seven crore to Rs eight crore," he explained.
The Minister said the government wants to provide scholarships to children of temple priests, which would require Rs five crore to Rs six crore annually.
This entire amount will benefit the temple priests only, many of whom are in poor condition, he explained.
The bill proposes grant in aid to the religious institutions of notified category-C only, which is less income or in needy circumstances.
It proposes that four general members of the management committee should be skilled in Vishwakarma Hindu temple architecture and sculpture.
"I am of the opinion that instead of giving assent to the proposed bill, I would deem fit to reserve this bill for the kind consideration of the Honourable President to avoid more constitutional complications, since it involves constitutional restrictions as well as scrutiny," Gehlot said in his order on Friday.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
