Even before the debate on the controversial Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 (known as the anti-conversion bill) and its passage in the Upper House of the Legislature could be completed, the BJP government in Karnataka announced that it will bring in a law to free temples from government control, during the State Budget. This may lead to another round of political slugfest. It is seen as one more RSS-backed initiative being implemented by the BJP government.
The demand for freeing Hindu temples in Karnataka from the purview of The Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997 (Muzrai Act) has grown especially loud after a misinformation campaign, allegedly by Hindutva groups, that the funds collected in temples are being “diverted” to non-Hindu religious institutions. This has continued despite clarification by the Department that the ‘tasdik’ amount for maintenance of non-Hindu religious places, to compensate the religious institutions that had lost their Inam lands when land reforms were implemented in the State, come from the government and not from temple collections. The ‘diversion’ of fund collected in temples, if any, has been from rich temples for the development of ‘C’ category temples. The Department provides ₹60,000 annually as tasdik for holding daily rituals in temples that have meagre incomes from devotees. It has 34,559 temples under its control of which 190 temples (earning more than ₹25 lakh annually) and 163 temples (earning between ₹5 lakh and ₹25 lakh annually) have been categorised as ‘A’ and ‘B’. As many 34,206 temples that have an annual income of less than ₹5 lakh have been categorised as ‘C’ and these receive tasdik.
Politically, the move is expected to help the ruling BJP. The narrative of freeing temples from government control has gathered steam in other parts of the country too. The Congress, which has been at loggerheads with the government on the anti-conversion bill and the anti-cow slaughter bill, will be on the back foot in putting up a strong opposition to the narrative on temple collection while fighting the BJP in the polls next year.
