While the nomination filing ended on Saturday, today is the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the election of office bearers of the servitors’ group.
As per reports, out of the elected executive office bearers, the working president, vice president, secretary, additional secretary and treasurer of the servitors’ group will be elected later.
At present, Nabakishore Patimohapatra occupies the permanent president post of the Nijog.
"Earlier, there used to be a voice vote for election of office bearers in the Nijog. After demonetization, a by-law has been made and the election process has begun. It is true that there was some displeasure among some members of the Nijog and efforts are on to resolve the issue at the earliest," said senior servitor Binayak Dasmohapatra.
Gunadhara Dasmohapatra, a candidate who has filed nomination, said, "My first duty would be to ensure unity among all servitors and that there should not be any payment issues. A rift has been created among servitors by the Srimandir administration."
"The election process has begun as per the Apex Court’s direction and we welcome the step," stated Shubhra Dasmohapatra, a voter.
The president and secretary-elect of the Nijog have said that emphasis will be laid on the overall development of the Nijog, smooth conduct of Lord Jagannath's rituals and Rath Yatra.
"We will work according to the age-old traditions of Lord Jagannath. We believe that lord's blessing is on us. We will give our best while performing our duties," new president of the Daitapati Nijog, Rabindra Das Mohapatra said.
Daitapati Nijog secretary, Durga Das Mohapatra said, "It is the beginning of a new chapter. We will try our best to meet the expectations of those who selected us."
As per a report of the Odisha Gazette, a Hundi (donation box) was installed at the Natya Mandap in Puri Srimandir in the year 1983. In the last 34 years, 18.26 kg gold and 119.78 kg silver ornaments have been received as donation in the Hundi. While the approximate value of the gold is over Rs 5 crore, the silver ornaments are worth over Rs 50 lakhs. The jewellery was kept in a strong room inside the SJTA office till date.
However, after instructions from the Supreme Court, only 14.56 kg gold was transfered to a locker of the State Bank of India (SBI), alleged Binayak.
He demanded the temple administration should disclose the whereabouts of the remaining gold.
"Only 14 kg gold was deposited in the State Bank of India locker three days back. Where is the rest four to five kilogram gold, even if they spent it they should have informed about the nature of expenditure," said Binayak.
On the other hand president of the Daitapati Nijog, Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra said that the ornaments are finally secured after such a long gap. However, he demanded the reason behind the delay should be made public.
"They may have kept the rest four to five kg gold for repair of the 'Rahu Rekha' of Lord Jagannath as it is broken. Besides, a 'Chita' of the Lord has also been damaged. There is nothing else that can justify SJTA's decision to not transfer all the gold," said Ramakrushna.
Authorities of the SJTA have still not commented on the matter.
Moreover, the Nijog also clarified that it will not assume the responsibility of ensuring enforcement of the ban on touching the deities.
“We will not be responsible if anyone touches the deities on the Snana Mandap. If anyone sneaks in and touches the deities, police has to take the responsibility,” said Dasmohapatra.
Meanwhile, the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief, IG Police and district Collector have assured of necessary arrangements to maintain discipline and facilitate millions of devotees for a Darshan of the deities during the Snana Yatra rituals. Also, the entire Srimandir premises would also be under CCTV surveillance.
The district administration discussed the various demands put forth by servitors. The other topics of discussion were the statements of Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati over the servitors touching the deities and authorised and unauthorised servitors issue.
The Suar servitors said that the issue remained unresolved in the meeting. Alleging that the district administration is giving more importance to the Shankaracharya rather than the 'Record of Rights' of the holy shrine, the Sudu Suar servitors had boycotted the meeting.
On the other hand, Daitapati Nijog has said that the discussion on the demands of servitors was successful.
After the meeting, President of the Daitapati Nijog Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra said, "It was finalised in the last moment that all servitors will be in service of Lord Jagannath. Collector and servitors will together visit Shakaracharya to resolve rest of the issues."
Collector Arvind Agarwal said, "The aim of the discussion was to create a cordial relationship between the servitors and district administration and we were successful in it. All of them opened up in the meeting and raised their issues. The discussion was positive and its result will be seen in the coming Rath Yatra."
The meeting also decided a team Daitapati Nijog along with chief administrator of SJTA will visit Deuli mutt in order to take stock of the situation there and decide the resting place for the Banajaga Jatra travelers.
The Banajga Jatra will start from March 29 and the servitors will reach the Deuli Matha on April 2.
Though the services of 108 Garabadu will required for the conduct of the Debasnana Purnima, the authorities have decided to conduct COVID19 tests of around 172 servitors. The servitors will undergo COVID test on May 29 and 30 while the reports are expected to be received by June 3. The Snana Purnima or the bathing ritual of the Holy Trinity of Puri Jagannath Temple is scheduled to be held on June 5.
“We have a total of 172 members and all of them will undergo COVID testing,” said Rajat Kumar Pratihari, Secretary of Garabadu Nijog.
Apart from Garabadu servitors, 150 servitors of Daitapati Nijogs also participate in the Debasnana Purnima rituals. Though the administration had conducted a workshop to create awareness among the daitapati servitors on COVID-19 recently, no decision on their COVID testing has been taken.
“We are ready to abide by all the rules and regulations and conduct the rituals,” said Ravindar Das Mohapatra, president of Daitapati Nijog.
As per tradition, servitors of 10 Nijogs including Garabadu, Daitapati, Suara, Mahasuara, Suarabadu and others are involved in the rituals. However, concerns were raised whether COVID testing will be conducted only for Garabadu servitors or extended to other Nijogs as well.
Clearing the air, Ajay Kumar Jena, Development Administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) informed that a list has been sought from all Nijogs by May 25 and the servitors who will be engaged during the Snana Purnima rituals will have to undergo COVID testing.
Meanwhile, the construction of chariots for Puri Rath Yatra is going on in full swing at construction yard. So far, the work for construction of 31 wheels has been completed while construction of 11 more wheels has reached the final stages, informed sources.
Also Read: Rath Yatra: Snana Purnima Likely To Be Held With Minimum Servitors
(Edited by Bikram Keshari Jena)