Opposition defeated Bill that would help priests, says Shivakumar

NT Correspondent

Shivamogga: The war of words over the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill continued as Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar asserted that the Opposition parties BJP and JD(S) defeated a measure that would have helped “archakas” or priests who took care of temples.

The saffron party and its ally had blocked the Bill in the Council on Friday, the last day of the Budget session. Congress has a simple majority in the Assembly of 135 in the Assembly.

However, the ruling party has only 29 members in the 75-member Council. BJP on the other hand has 36 MLCs while allies JD(S) have eight.

Therefore, the Congress is heavily dependent on the Opposition lawmakers to pass Bills in the Council.

The Bill mandates that 10 per cent of the revenue from Hindu temples whose annual income exceeds Rs 1 crore, be extracted for a common pool.

Similarly, five per cent of the yearly income of temples that gather more than Rs 10 lakh annually would be moved to the pool.