Karnataka: God demands more, government supplies less!

“The god’s demands are high but the budget allocation is less!” commented Muzrai Minister Rudrappa Lamani, in lighter vein, expressing his helplessness.

He was responding to a question put by M S Puttannaiah of Sarvodaya Party, during the question hour in the Assembly, and the demand by several legislators to sanction grants to religious institutions.

Earlier, Puttannaiah had commented that while the Mahamastakabhisheka in the neighbouring district of Hassan received huge grants, the 1000 year old Melkote Cheluvanarayana Swamy and Yoga Narasimha temples are hardly sanctioned any grant.  He said he was utilizing his MLA funds to provide basic facilities at Melkote but that is insufficient. He appealed for at least Rs 25 crore grants to the Melkote temples to provide basic amenities.

He quipped that “all you ministers visit the temple and return blessed. Now, if you don’t sanction grants you all will be cursed”.

Shivalinge Gowda of JD(S) said the budget provision in the Muzrai department is very little and how can the department manage to sanction grants. Every time he visits the constituency, people demand funds for the temple. “Now that the elections are approaching sanction some Rs 300 - 400 crores so that we can happily go the polls,” he said.

C T Ravi of BJP said the government is not spending even one per cent of the revenue earned from the A grade temples in the State on small temples. He urged “first sanction grants to our temples, otherwise the gods won’t let you survive”.  

Minister Lamani in response said, of the two temples in Melkote, one belongs to the State government and the other to Central government. The archeology department does not allow even a nail to be hit in this temple, he said.

However he assured to talk to the CM regarding sanctioning of grant to Melkote temples.

• Karnataka
• Muzrai department
• temple grants