By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 21 Jul: Explaining the position of his government in respect of the Devasthanam Board, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, today, that the Uttarakhand Chardham Devasthanam Board Act had come into existence in the state after being notified in the Gazette of 15 June, 2020. He indicated that there would be no going back on the move but added that the government was willing to make amendments to safeguard the interests of the traditional stakeholders. He admitted that there were doubts and uncertainty in the minds of some of the stakeholders from the Char Dham and related shrines but added that the Act had been enacted to protect the traditional, religious and economic rights of Rawals, Pandas, Pujaris, Haq-Haqooqdharis and other local stakeholders.
Dhami said that the Chardham Yatra was economically most important for the state and the interest and development of the arrangements related to them were crucial. He added that, while giving a new dimension to this economic activity, any new system would have to be fulfilled with the aim of not allowing the rights of the local businessmen and rights holders to be adversely affected. Therefore, after effective consultation with all the stakeholders, the state government was in favour of making positive changes and amendments in the Act. Therefore, a high-level committee was being constituted to assess the consequences on the stakeholders due to the formation of the Devasthanam Board Act and to assess the legal consequences of system deviation. Based on the recommendation of the committee, the appropriate decision would be taken regarding the Chardham Devasthanam Board.
