Committee approves ₹413 cr budget for Jagannath Puri; to have its own FM radio

The temple will have its own FM radio channel, the committee said, adding they are also planning to streamline Darshan with provisions for dedicated rows for women, children, and elderly devotees

Published on: Aug 31, 2024, 14:55:12 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Bhubaneshwar: The Jagannath Puri temple management committee met on Friday, during which they approved a budget of Rs.413 crore for the financial year 2024-25. As the Odisha government has made provision for ₹500 crore corpus, it would be around ₹913 crore if we take into account the corpus fund, said a committee member.

Jagannath Puri temple in Odisha (File Photo)

The temple will have its own FM radio channel, the committee said, adding they are also planning to streamline Darshan with provisions for dedicated rows for women, children, and elderly devotees.

“After the four gates of the temple were opened on June 13, the shrine has been witnessing a huge footfall of devotees, causing serious problems for everyone. We are planning to streamline it,” said temple managing committee member Madhab Mahapatra.

He added that the committee has entrusted the district collector, the superintendent of police, and the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief to hold talks with temple servitors (priests).

The temple administration recently floated an expression of interest to implement an AI-based dynamic footfall counting system in the shrine that will be used to regulate the flow of devotees.

The managing committee also approved the proposal for gold plating of the two doors of Ratna Bhandar containing all the valuables of the deities.

Last month, after four decades, all the valuables from both chambers of the Ratna Bhandar were taken out for its inventorisation.

Once the necessary repair works of the Ratna Bhandar are completed by the Archaeological Survey of India, the gold-plating work for the doors of the Ratna Bhandar will begin, said officials.

The committee also discussed the issue of the welfare of the temple servitors, including health insurance, financial assistance, scholarships for the children of sevayat families, and sports financial assistance.

In move to digitise the temple premises, the officials said that soon the Odisha Space Applications Centre (ORSAC) help will be sought, and a GPS survey will be conducted for all the landed properties of Lord Jagannath. Similarly, the records of the temple administration would be digitised as well, the committee said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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