Karnataka: Temple tax legislation passed in both Houses

The contentious Hindu Religious and Temple Endowments Bill, 2024, which was earlier defeated in the Karnataka Legislative Council by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal combine on February 23 was passed by both houses of the legislature on Thursday. The department of Religious and Charitable Endowments is, hence, popularly known as the Muzrai department After the Bill was defeated in the Council, the Karnataka Hindu Temple Archakas Association on February 25 had accused the BJP of “using temples” to gain votes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and said that they were united against the “false propaganda.” The association members said they were getting ₹ 5,000 as salary per month which includes the items required for pooja. The Opposition BJP and the JD were not present in the assembly when the bill was passed on Thursday, as they had staged a walkout earlier in the day, demanding the Congress government’s resignation for its “inaction” in nabbing the culprits who allegedly shouted the ‘Pakistan zindabad’ slogans after Congress member Syed Naseer Hussain was declared elected to the Rajya Sabha. There are around 35,000 temples under Muzrai department, of which 205 whose income exceeds ₹25 lakh per year are categorised as Group A, 193 with incomes between ₹5 lakh and ₹25 lakh are Group B and around 34,000 temples with incomes below ₹5 lakh are Group C.