By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 23 Jul: Office bearers of the ‘Uttarakhand Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat’ called on Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his Camp Office here, today, and congratulated him on successful completion of 3 years in the post.
They also thanked him for the decision regarding the constitution of an authority to manage the Char Dham Yatra. Besides this, they also thanked the CM for the decision of the Cabinet to make strict legal provisions restricting any organisation from using the name of Char Dham or other temples of Uttarakhand.
Welcoming the decision of the Chief Minister, they said that this would prevent any confusion among the crores of devotees of Char Dham across the country. The Teerth Purohits also claimed that after the government’s decision to withdraw the Devasthanam Board idea, this is another great decision taken in their interest.
The Mahapanchayat also urged the CM to provide financial assistance for the holding of important religious festivals and fairs of Char Dham shrines. They observed that government’s assistance for the festivals and the melas would ensure that they are organsed in a divine and grand manner at the local level.
The Teerth Purohits also welcomed the government’s decision to constitute an authority to manage the Char Dham Yatra but urged him that, before the formation of the proposed authority, the Teertha Purohits of Char Dham, temple committees, Teerth Purohit Maha Sabhas as well as stakeholders would also be taken into confidence. They said that strict action should be taken against the anti-social elements who spread unverified and misleading propaganda, videos related to Char Dham Yatra and no pilgrim be deprived of visiting Char Dham due to any lacuna with the registration system during the Yatra period. For this, it was also requested to completely abolish the registration system in greater public interest.
Addressing the Teerth Purohits, Chief Minister Dhami said that making strict legal provisions against setting up a trust or committee in the name of the Char Dhams and other major temples of the state by the Cabinet would prevent any possible confusion in the minds of the devotees besides ensuring that the local traditions and religious beliefs are not hurt. He added that now there will be no possibility of resentment at the local level.
The CM said that keeping in mind the improvement of the Char Dham Yatra and to plan for Yatra during the next 30 years, the state government is considering constituting an authority to organise the Char Dham Yatra. He assured them that the opinion of the Teerth Purohits and other stakeholders would also be sought at the time of constituting the authority. In addition, at the request of the Teerth Purohits, the CM also assured them regarding providing financial assistance for two religious events and festivals organised in each Dham. The Chief Minister said that efforts are being made to further improve the offline and online registration system for the devotees under the Char Dham Yatra. Both online and offline systems will be kept open in the second phase of the Yatra. Every possible effort is being made to ensure that no passenger visiting the Char Dham faces any inconvenience, he claimed.
On this occasion, Director General, Information, Banshidhar Tiwari, General Secretary of Char Dham Mahapanchayat Dr Brijesh Sati, Kishore Bhatt, Yamunotri Teerth Purohit Mahasabha President Purushottam Uniyal, Media In-charge of Char Dham Mahapanchayat Rajnikant Semwal, Vice President Amit Uniyal, Alok Semwal of Gangotri Dham, Lakhan Uniyal, Suresh Hatwal, Ramesh Kothiyal, Chintamani Hatwal, Gaurav, Hardik, Shivam, Sushil and Dr Manish Semwal were among those present.
