Jagannath temple budget passed

Odisha Channel Bureau Puri, Mar 18: The Shri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on Wednesday passed a budget of Rs.239.81 crore for the temple for the 2015-16 fiscal.The budget would be sent to the State government for approval.This is the highest budget in the history of the temple.While the last year budget was at Rs.103.82 crore, this year it has increased manifold to cover the heavy expenses likely to be incurred during the Nabakalebara ritual of Lord Jagannath and his siblings.In the income side the temple depends heavily upon the state government grant which is estimated at Rs.110.21crore. Income from the land revenue is pegged at Rs.58.54 crore and revenue from the temple complex is estimated at Rs.15.40 crore.Income from other revenue sources is estimated at Rs.53.33 crore.In the expenses side Rs.2.671 crore is estimated for expenditure for the Nabakalebara ritual of the deities.This apart, the expenditure for Nabakalebara related development works is estimated at Rs.50.51 crore.Temple establishment and administration expenses has been pegged at Rs.25.25 crore and 3.27 crore respectively.A sum of Rs.15.32 crore has been allocated for the conduct of daily ritual of the deities.A sum of Rs.20 crore would be spent for silver plating of the Jai Vijaya doors of the temple and construction and widening of road around the temple is estimated at Rs.20 crore.The welfare of the temple servitors has been given priority as Rs.11.17 crore has been provided in the budget.This apart, Rs.3 crore will be spent for establishment of a special school for the temple servitors’ children, and Rs.3 crore would be spent for providing houses to homeless servitors.For the benefit of the devotees, a toilet complex would be opened at a cost of Rs.50 lakh, while a museum at Gundicha temple would be established at a cost of Rs.10 lakh.Besides, Rs.3 crore would be spent on special rewards to the temple servitors for their exemplary services.A sum of Rs.2 crore would be spent for raising protection walls over the temple endowment property.Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, Chairman of the Managing Committee presided over the meeting, while Chief Administrator of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration Suresh Chandra Mahapatra presented the budget.Almost all the members of the temple managing committee were present in the meeting.