Congress follows Mughal revenue policy! K'taka passes 'Anti-Hindu' bill to tax temples

The bill mandates the state to collect 10% tax from temples having revenue exceeding ₹1 crore and 5% which have revenue between ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore.

NewsBharati    22-Feb-2024 16:31:21 PM
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Taking a anti-Hindu decision, the Karnataka government on Wednesday passed the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment bill in the Assembly. The bill mandates that the government will collect 10 per cent of the income of temples that have revenue of more than Rs 1 crore.
 
 
tax temples
 
Under the newly introduced provisions —
 
a. Temples with an annual income exceeding one crore rupees are required to contribute 10 per cent of their earnings to a 'Common Pool Fund' (CPF).
 
b. Similarly, temples earning between Rs.10 lakh and rupees one crore annually are mandated to contribute 5 per cent of their income to the same fund.
 
As outlined in Section 19(a), the funds collected in the CPF can be utilised for the benefit of the "poor and needy organisations", which is not a clear definition of what exactly it constitutes. Critics argue that this vague terminology opens the door to potential misuse of temple funds, diverting them away from their intended religious and community purposes.
 
Another controversial provision, detailed in Section 25, allows for the appointment of members from both Hindu and other religious communities to the management committee of composite institutions. This move has been labelled as an infringement on the autonomy and traditional management structures of Hindu temples.
 
 
 
The BJP targeted the Congress-led Karnataka government over this bill, alleging that the state government is involved in "anti-Hindu policies" and there is bound to be misuse of the funds.
 
BJP's Karnataka unit president Vijayendra Yediyurappa, in a post on X, said that the Congress government was trying to fill its "empty coffers" through this bill. The BJP leader further asked why the state government was only collecting revenue from Hindu temples and not other religious structures.
 
"The question on the minds of millions of devotees is why only Hindu temples are being eyed and not the income of other religious places," he wrote on X.
 
Karnataka's transport minister and Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy dismissed the BJP's accusations, saying, "The government isn't taking the money, it will be used for 'dharmic parishad' purposes."
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