Vijayawada: Former Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao suggested the government should stop looking at temples as sources of revenue and think in terms of maximisation of the revenue from the temples. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Monday, he felt that looking the temples as revenue generation centres would lead to introduction of unnecessary rituals and pricing them abnormally making the common pilgrims un-happy as they may not have access to such rituals due to the cost factor.
By stating that he has tried to flag these issues for a detailed discussion. When he was with the government both as Chief Secretary as well as chairman of the Archaka Welfare Trust, Mr Rao felt that his efforts did not succed. “Now the issues are getting manifested in terms of the maladministration of these institutions, casting a shadow on the image of the government,” he observed.
Terming the Durga temple issue as a manifestation of a much deeper rot set in the administration of Hindu religious institutions due to over interference of bureaucracy and and political leaders in the temple administration over a period of time, Mr Rao alleged that these trust boards and institutions have become centres for rehabilitation of politically unemployed and for dispensing political patronage.
