The Department of Muzrai will have a separate engineering section soon, Minister for Muzrai, Fisheries and Ports Kota Srinivas Poojary has said.
At a meeting held at the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Wednesday, he said the work of repair, renovation, and re-construction of temples coming under the purview of the department would be executed through the engineering section.
Mr. Poojary said the State government was planning to launch a health insurance scheme for priests serving in Muzrai temples. The deputy commissioners would be entrusted with the powers to sanction permission for renovation at these temples worth ₹1 crore, he said.
He directed the district administration to take steps to maintain cleanliness at Hanagerekatte, a pilgrimage centre that has Syed Sadath Dargah and the temple of Chowdeshwari and Bhootharayaswamy.
Araga Jnanendra, Tirthahalli MLA, complained that some of the locals were misleading devotees against offering their donation in the hundi at the Hanagerekatte temple. Mr. Poojary directed K.B. Sivakumar, Deputy Commissioner, to review the video footage from surveillance cameras installed there and take stern action against erring persons.
Mr. Poojary said the Department of Forests would be requested to hand over five acre of land in Hanagerekatte to the Department of Muzrai to develop amenities for pilgrims. The use of plastic in Hanagerekatte would be banned and a priest would be appointed for the Bhootarayaswamy temple there, he added.
He said Matsyadarshini, fish canteens run by the Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation in Bengaluru, would be established in all the taluk headquarters.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Poojary was felicitated on becoming a Minister, by the Bharatiya Janata Party district unit. Ayanur Manjunath and S. Rudre Gowda, MLCs, and M.B. Bhanuprakash, former MLC, were present.