Speaker asks state to consider bringing religious places of other faiths under its control

MUMBAI: Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar asked the state government to consider bringing religious places of other faiths under its control. The government has responded positively to it, saying it will consider the regulation of all religious places.

The speaker gave his opinion while discussing the changes and regulations related to the management of the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai. “The preamble of the Indian constitution speaks about the secular nature of our country. When we roam around in our constituencies and mingle among the people, they ask us about the government control over the religious places of a certain religion (Hinduism). They enquire as to why the same control does not apply to religious places of other faiths. I think all religions should be treated equally and as such worshipping places of all religions should be brought under the control of the government,” he said.

To this, minister Jayakumar Rawal responded positively. “The government will look into it and take a call.”

The speaker’s remarks came during the debate on the bill related to Siddhivinayak Temple. The state government, in the bill introduced to ratify the ordinance issued a few months ago, has proposed to increase the number of executive body members to 15 from 9 and increase their term to 5 years.

Shiv Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said the government should think of appointing members from the opposition parties too. “The temple trust utilise the funds generated from donations for many philanthropic activities, but there are complaints of mismanagement of the funds. The government should fine-tune the mechanism. Not only for Siddhivinayak but even other temples like Tuljapur. The government should also streamline the system for the identification of devotees standing in the darshan queues,” he said.