<p>Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dmk">DMK </a>dispensation on Friday said it has cleared 7,400 acres of land belonging to various temples managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department worth Rs 7,132 crore from encroachments since it took over in May 2021. </p><p>The recovered land parcels have been restored to the temples that owned them originally, the government said. The clearing of encroachments by the DMK government is aimed at blunting a vociferous campaign that temples be freed from government control. </p><p>HR&CE minister P K Sekarbabu said the government in the past three-and-a-half years has conducted consecration ceremonies in 2,392 temples across the state. “We are also spending Rs 5,515 crore for various works in about 23,234 temples,” the minister added.</p>.DMK MPs to seek Code of Conduct for Governors in Budget session.<p>He said temple land to an extent of 7,400 acres worth Rs 7,132 crore have been recovered by the government. Sekarbabu said the department erects a fence around the premises and installs boards with details of the land and to which temples it belongs after clearing them of encroachments. </p><p>“The land is handed over to the temple. The government doesn’t interfere in financial or land transactions,” he said.</p><p>Besides, the government is also 3D-mapping 4.78 lakh acres of land owned by temples that are under the control of HR&CE as part of the efforts to prepare a digital land resources database. The drive to retrieve encroached lands and the ambitious plan to 3D-map them were launched in 2021 and 2022 to bring transparency in the functioning of the department.</p><p>DMK, which has been fighting for a long time to shed off the “anti-Hindu” tag given to it by the BJP and right-wing outfits, believes the functioning of the HR&CE department under its government will help counter the narrative.</p><p>The government had last year conducted a two-day international conference on Lord Murugan as part of the efforts to counter the criticism being levelled at it often and to prove its “inclusiveness.” </p><p>Though ‘Free TN temples’ campaign was launched by yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, it is now the pet topic of the BJP in Tamil Nadu with the party’s state unit chief K Annamalai promising to abolish the HR&CE department if his party was voted to power in the state. </p><p>The concerted efforts by the DMK also comes at a time when a slew of petitions regarding “mismanagement of temples” under HR&CE are being heard by the Madras High Court. </p><p>As many as 44,121 temples in Tamil Nadu come under the HR & CE department which manages and controls them.</p>
<p>Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dmk">DMK </a>dispensation on Friday said it has cleared 7,400 acres of land belonging to various temples managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department worth Rs 7,132 crore from encroachments since it took over in May 2021. </p><p>The recovered land parcels have been restored to the temples that owned them originally, the government said. The clearing of encroachments by the DMK government is aimed at blunting a vociferous campaign that temples be freed from government control. </p><p>HR&CE minister P K Sekarbabu said the government in the past three-and-a-half years has conducted consecration ceremonies in 2,392 temples across the state. “We are also spending Rs 5,515 crore for various works in about 23,234 temples,” the minister added.</p>.DMK MPs to seek Code of Conduct for Governors in Budget session.<p>He said temple land to an extent of 7,400 acres worth Rs 7,132 crore have been recovered by the government. Sekarbabu said the department erects a fence around the premises and installs boards with details of the land and to which temples it belongs after clearing them of encroachments. </p><p>“The land is handed over to the temple. The government doesn’t interfere in financial or land transactions,” he said.</p><p>Besides, the government is also 3D-mapping 4.78 lakh acres of land owned by temples that are under the control of HR&CE as part of the efforts to prepare a digital land resources database. The drive to retrieve encroached lands and the ambitious plan to 3D-map them were launched in 2021 and 2022 to bring transparency in the functioning of the department.</p><p>DMK, which has been fighting for a long time to shed off the “anti-Hindu” tag given to it by the BJP and right-wing outfits, believes the functioning of the HR&CE department under its government will help counter the narrative.</p><p>The government had last year conducted a two-day international conference on Lord Murugan as part of the efforts to counter the criticism being levelled at it often and to prove its “inclusiveness.” </p><p>Though ‘Free TN temples’ campaign was launched by yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, it is now the pet topic of the BJP in Tamil Nadu with the party’s state unit chief K Annamalai promising to abolish the HR&CE department if his party was voted to power in the state. </p><p>The concerted efforts by the DMK also comes at a time when a slew of petitions regarding “mismanagement of temples” under HR&CE are being heard by the Madras High Court. </p><p>As many as 44,121 temples in Tamil Nadu come under the HR & CE department which manages and controls them.</p>