City temples to get new boards of trustees

CHENNAI: The temples in Chennai under the ambit of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department will get new Boards of Trustees following the expiry of the terms of the nominees. The tenure of the trustees in many places of worship including the most popular Vadapalani, Mylapore and Thiruverkadu temples came to an end a few months ago.There are over 1,000 temples in Chennai and suburbs under the administrative control of the HR and CE. Arankavalar Kuzhu or the Board of Trustees  is appointed by the State government to assist in the governance of temples under the HR and CE. The functions of the trustees include taking important decisions related to the maintenance of temples.On all key issues, the Executive Officers of the HR and CE may go ahead only after taking the concurrence of the Board of the Trustees. Though trustees do not receive any honorarium, the position is considered a big honour. No wonder, there is great competition to get elected to the board.According to officials, during the previous AIADMK regime, the tenure of the trustees was three years. During the DMK regime, the tenure was brought down to two years and then as one year. Extensions were given subsequently for the continuance of the members on the board.   ‘No to atheists in the Board’:  Interestingly, the issue of atheists getting appointed to the temple boards was fiercely debated in the State Assembly recently. Left members including G Beem Rao, K Balakrishnan (CPM) and S Gunasekaran (CPI) said even atheists could be appointed to the boards provided they were efficient. The view was strongly objected by the AIADMK ministers. While the HR and CE Minister SP Shanmuganathan said only devout persons could be appointed, Leader of the House and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam wanted to know if the Left parties would admit persons in their partieswho had no faith in their ideologies.