
Hindu minister to be chairperson in case of Muslim CM: Char Dham proposal
The Uttarakhand cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to manage the Char Dham,or four holy Hindu abodes in the state, and 51 other temples on the lines of the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir and Tirupati Balaji shrine in Andhra Pradesh.
The state government plans to enact the Chardham Shrine Management Board Act 2019 to oversee the management of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
State urban development minister and spokesperson for the state government Madan Kaushik said on Wednesday that the proposed law would provide for a Hindu cabinet minister to be the chairperson of the shrine board in case a Muslim becomes chief minister.
The attempt is to introduce an overarching law to oversee the functioning of Hindu places of worship in the state where, until now, temples have been governed by individual committees with government representatives. The law will regulate all major temples in the state including Kedarnath and Badrinath, which are being overseen now by the Kedarnath-Badrinath temple committee.
Kaushik said that the new shrine board will work on the lines of the one for Vaishno Devi Temple in Katra district of Jammu and Kashmir and the Balaji shrine in Tirupati. He said the move is aimed at improving facilities at all major temples in the state, which would give a boost to religious tourism.
A total of 36 proposals were discussed and 35 approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Kaushik said. They included the Chardham Shrine Management Board Act, 2019.
“Once formed, CM of the state would head the board as its chairperson. Three MPs, six MLAs, several secretaries and priests of the char dhams will also be included as members in the board,” Kaushik said.
Kaushik said that the chief executive officer of the board would be an Indian Administrative Service officer who will look after the rights of the priests they have enjoyed previously. “In case there is a Muslim CM then a senior Hindu cabinet minister would be the chairperson of the board,” he said.
“In the initial phase, the board will manage Char Dham and 51 temples. A bill regarding this will be tabled in the State Assembly in the upcoming session. Once the Act is formed, the board will work on the lines of Vaishno Devi and Tirupati Balaji Shrine Management Boards,” he said.
The cabinet also decided to form rules and regulations for the modernisation of madarsas in the state.
“The rules and regulations would help in modernising the madarsas. It would help in their computerisation as the government works under PM Narendra Modi’s principle of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. Apart from this, the state cabinet also decided to form rules and regulations for the Arabic-Farsi Madrassa Board in the state,” said Kaushik.
In case of schools that don’t have their own buildings, the cabinet approved a proposal to construct structures using bamboo.
Among the other approvals, the state cabinet announced that it would be organising a Wellness Summit-2020 in April which would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event will feature the US, United Arab Emirates, China and Thailand as partner countries and would cost Rs 25 crore to host.

Amid speculations of change in leadership, Uttarakhand CM leaves for Delhi
- BJP leaders said that the CM left for Delhi with a few party MLAs and would apprise the central leadership of the political situation in the state

Uttarakhand: CM Rawat leaves for Delhi amid speculation of leadership change

Uttarakhand man gets death penalty for sodomising and murdering 5-year old
- Police took Harswroop into custody and questioned him, which led to the recovery of the child’s body, stuffed in a bag from his room.

India's first forest healing centre open in Kalika, near Ranikhet

Uttarakhand BJP core group meeting fuels speculation about major change in govt

Uttarakhand: Man trampled to death by elephant on Neelkanth stretch
- Last month on February 22 in a similar incident, an elephant had mowed down a person at Phoolchatti road near Neelkanth shrine

Uttarakhand Congress alleges corruption, mismanagement in Mahakumbh
- Congress MLA Pritam objected to the curtailing of Haridwar Maha Kumbh to one month on the pretext of Coronavirus pandemic.

BJP postpones Dhankar’s meeting in Yamunanagar

Impractical: Cong, experts on Gairsain as U'khand's new administrative division
- The declaration was made by the CM in his budgetary speech on March 4 under which the new division would comprise four districts.

Chamoli tragedy: Month later, rescue continues; experts say 'no lessons learnt'
- Several studies in the past month have said that the tragedy was because of man-made reasons.

BJP holds emergency meeting amid speculation of leadership change in Uttarakhand
- It was speculated that several ministers were not consulted before declaring Gairsain as the third administrative division of the state.

Chamoli floods: Rise in overall temp in 40 years could have led to rock collapse
- The report by Kathmandu-based ICIMOD, which was released on Friday, found that a crack had formed prior to the incident at the site where the rock detachment led to a rockslide from the Raunti peak.

U'khand govt to provide maintenance to non-earning women in family disputes: CM
- The CM said, "There have been incidents of family disputes between couples that go to court during which women face issues with maintenance."

Uttarakhand CM presents ₹57,400 cr budget for FY22 with health, infra in focus
- The budget contains the vision of a self-reliant Uttarakhand which is essential to the realisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a self-reliant India, Uttarakhand CM said.
