NEWS

The Uttarakhand Government recently withdrew the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act.

What is Char Dham Act

• Legislated by the Uttarakhand State Assembly in 2019.
• Constituted a board called Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Board
• Board brought the Char Dham of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and 49 other temples under its purview.
• Chief Minister was the Chairman of the board and the Minister of Religious Affairs was the vice chairman
• Two MLAs of Yamunotri and Gangotri were members of the board and a senior IAS officer was the Chief Executive Officer.
• The board
  • Was responsible for management of temples
  • Had powers to frame policies, sanction expenditure, budget formulation
  • Had powers to give directions for the safe custody of temple jewellery and properties.

Why was Char Dham Act proposed : Most of the provisions of Shri Badrinath – Shri Kedarnath Act, 1939 were not relevant to the present context. It aimed to rejuvenate the temples.