Uttarakhand accepts saints’ request for burial land to check jal samadhi

The decision was taken by the state government during the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at the CM house.

The Uttarakhand government on Friday decided to provide 4.38 hectares of land to saints and seers in Haridwar for their Bhu-samadhi or ceremonial land burial near Ganga instead of Jal Samadhi or immersion in Ganga waters.

The government has offered 4.38 hectares of land to saints near Ganga.(Photo@tsrawatbjp)

The decision was taken by the state government during the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at the CM house.

The proposal in this regard, part of 15 decisions taken by the cabinet, has come after the demand for the same was raised by the influential Akhada Parishad before the government last year.

State urban development minister and spokesperson of state government Madan Kaushik said, "The land has been provided as it was the long pending demand of the saint community."

"Traditionally, in the saint community, a deceased seer or saint is immersed in Ganga under Jal Samadhi ceremony but of late they demanded a land for Bhu-samadhi, citing environmental impact and related concerns with their tradition. Now, the government has offered 4.38 hectares of land to them for this near Ganga," said Kaushik.

The Akhada Parishad in a meeting with the CM last year had demanded a land space adjacent to Ganga ghat in Haridwar.

Informing about another major decision, Kaushik informed that the cabinet also decided to pay 155 teachers of the Sanskrit department according to their teaching experience.

"Under the move, a teacher who has been teaching Sanskrit for about five years, would be paid ₹15,000/month. Similarly, a teacher with experience between five to 10 years would be paid ₹25,000 per month and a teacher teaching the subject for over 10 years would be paid ₹30,000 a month. Apart from this, a Sanskrit teacher having a UGC approved M Phil or PhD will get a ₹5000 bonus," said Kaushik.