Puri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee Approves Rs 271.7 Cr Budget For 2023-24 Ahead Of Rath Yatra

Puri : Ahead of the annual Rath Yatra in Puri, the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on Monday passed a full-term budget of Rs 271.7 crore for the financial year 2023-24.

The managing committee, which met under the chairmanship of Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, emphasised the need for growth of revenue of the temple for smooth conduct of different activities.

The expenditure outlay has been put at Rs 262.16 crore in the total budget, sources said. In the uniform policy system, it has been decided to increase the revenue from the temple lands, stone quarries, online donation system through UPI and other digital platforms and installation of more donation boxes.

In the proposed budget, Rs 5 crore has been allocated for health insurance for the family members of the servitors, Rs 3.50 crore for Sevak Awas Yojana, Rs 5 crore for the Srimandir Adarsh Gurukul, and Rs 50 crore for the corpus fund.

The Temple management has earned Rs 30 crore from the mines located in different districts, Rs 36 crore from hundi, Rs 60 crore from corpus fund interest and Rs 50 crore from land acquisition and sale of land.

The meeting also discussed the temple heritage corridor project. Steps are being taken to complete the project by June 15. However, arrangements have been made with the entry of devotees and servitors within the 6 meter perimeter of the outer corridor project.

While chairman of the managing committee Dibyasingha Deb presided, the meeting was attended among others by chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA)  Ranjan Kumar Das, Puri Collector Samarth Verma, SP K Vishal Singh, members of the temple management committee and SJTA officials.