Melting of TN temple gold jewellery: Madras high court order comes as an encouragement, minister says – Times of India

CHENNAI: Minister for Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR and CE) P K Sekar Babu on Friday said there was no ban on taking stock of the inventory of temple jewellery. The minister welcomed the Madras high court order that the melting of gold jewellery should be done only after the appointment of trustees. He said the department had taken an initiative to appoint trustees to the HR and CE temples.
“Before the court issued the order, the department had advertised district-wise to appoint trustees to each temple. We have been receiving applications from interested people,” said the minister after inspecting ongoing work at Srinivasa Perumal temple in Choolai. The minister instructed the officials to remove the encroachment around the temple and maintain it properly.
“The court order comes as an encouragement for the department, which would expedite the process,” said the minister.
On October 13, chief minister M K Stalin relaunched the segregation and melting of gold jewellery scheme at Thiruverkadu, Samayapuram and Irukkankudi temples. “It has been 18 days since the scheme was relaunched under the supervision of retired Supreme Court and high court judges. It is still going on. We estimate that it will take nearly a year to take stock of the inventory of jewellery. Meanwhile, the appointment of trustees will be taken care of,” said the minister.
On BJP leader H Raja demand that the DMK government not appoint anybody related to the ruling party and its alliance parties, Sekar Babu said the present government had been following the rules and regulations without any compromise.
He further said the department was open to criticisms and ready to correct if there were any shortcomings or issues.