Puri: Odisha government on Thursday constituted a committee to study the management schemes of important shrines of the country to suggest reforms, if necessary, for the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
The move came after an order regarding the same was issued by the Supreme Court on June 8.
Additional chief secretary, forest and environment, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra has been appointed the chairperson of the committee with Inspector General (IG) of Police, Central Range, Soumendra Priyadarshi and member of Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, Mohimohan Tripathy as other members.
Going by the apex court’s order, the panel will examine schemes of Vaishno Devi, Somnath temple, Golden temple, Tirupati temple and Dharmashala temple and submit its interim report by June 30.
A bench comprising justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ashok Bhusen of the Supreme Court had asked the state government to constitute the committee. This was after hearing a petition filed by Mrinalini Padhi regarding the difficulties faced by devotees at the Puri Jagannath Temple due to harassment by servitors
