The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to provide grant-in-aid for maintenance of religious institutions and holding prayers, an official spokesman said today.
The decision has been taken to promote and preserve the rich heritage of religious institutions in the state, popularly known as the 'Valley of the Gods', he said.
The allocations under the grant will be made through a revolving fund scheme, the spokesman said.
"Earlier, many religious institutions had their own land, and they generated income from these. The earnings were used to maintain temples and for daily prayers.
"However, after implementation of various land reform laws many religious institutions lost their estates. This resulted in lack of income and as a consequence these temples suffered neglect," he said.
Eyeing the situation, the government implemented the scheme to help religious institutions, the spokesman said.
"Under the scheme the Director of the Language, Art and Culture department will invest the amount with the highest interest of nationalised or cooperative banks in fixed deposit accounts. The interest will be utilised for implementing the scheme," he said
The religious institutions will get the grant-in-aid annually or as a one-time grant for regular maintenance and holding prayers, the spokesman said.
"This will help these institutions become self-sufficient and help them provide facilities like Sarai (inn), buildings, shops, parking and toilets on barren land owned them," he said.
Only those religious institutions would be eligible for availing grant whose lands are under various land reforms Acts, the spokesman said.
The temples which are included in the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, and the HP Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act are not eligible for grants as they are centrally protected, he said.
"Similarly, religious institutions with individual or personal ownership are also not eligible for grants. The land acquired by the government and for which compensation has already been awarded to the religious institutions will not be counted for calculation under this scheme," the spokesman said.
For availing the benefit of grant, the head of eligible religious institution will have to submit the desired documents along-with proposal to the District Language Officer concerned, he said.
The annual grant, will be recommended by the District Language Officer and it will be provided on first-come-first -serve basis. The department will not be under any compulsion to provide it every year, the spokesman said.
The grant will depend on the amount available in the revolving fund and will be subject to amendments. It will be provided to the Block Development Officer by Deputy Commissioners, he said.
If rules and regulations are violated by the applicant, the entire amount will be recovered along-with interest in a single instalment, the spokesman said.
The officers concerned will be at liberty to observe the progress of the construction and also ask for necessary changes, he said.
The department has also been authorised to recover the entire amount, if it is not utilised for the sanctioned works, the spokesman said.
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