Odishatv Bureau

Puri: The Managing Committee meeting of Puri Sri Mandir was held today under the chairmanship of Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb where a budget outlay of Rs 185 crore was tabled for the fiscal year 2018-19 for Jagannath temple.

This apart, various issues related to Brahma Paribartan fiasco and Justice BP Das Commission reports were reviewed in presence of the newly appointed members of the Temple Managing Committee, sources said.

The report of the Brahma Paribartan fiasco was presented by the then SJTA Chief Administrator Suresh Mohapatra. Sources said a three-member Committee was also formed during the meeting to review the latest report.

This was the first meeting after the reconstitution of the Managing Committee, after a gap of more than seven months. The tenure of the last panel reportedly ended on July 23 last year.

Meanwhile, hours before the meeting of the Managing Committee, posters were found around the premises of Puri Sri Mandir this morning in protest of the selection of members in the committee.

As per sources, the posters mentioned that the selection of members was done in favour of the temple administration.

Earlier, the Sri Jagannath Servitor Association had demanded election instead of nominations of these members to have a non-biased Committee.

They had also stated that those nominated as the members of the Managing Committee would work for the development of Sri Mandir, well being of servitors as well as look after the needs and problems of the devotees.

The state government had nominated ten persons last week to be the members of the Committee. The members nominated included Sidheswar Mohapatra, Madhab Pujapanda, Nilakantha Mohapatra, Madhab Chandra Mohapatra, Ananta Kumar Tiadi, Ram Das Mohapatra, Sachidananda Das Maharaj, Bijaya Sahu, Raghunath Mohapatra and Mahimohan Tripathy.

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