PANJIM: In a significant fallout of the intense conflict, mainly between upper caste Majajans and locals seeking an end to the supremacy of mahajans in managing affairs of temple committees, Mahesh Dattaram Nayak, the Mahajan of Shri Ramnath Devasthan at Bandora, Ponda has pointed to large scale illegality in the functioning of these cash rich temple managing committees.
At the same time he has expressed shock at the demand that the Mazania Act should be repealed. According to him, the issue is not with the Act but its blatant misuse.
In a statement, he said, “I am shocked and surprised to read the news that Mazania Act repealing has been demanded. Before taking any legal steps, I suggest that the State government to check all Devasthans which are under the Mazania Act and find out whether they have followed the Act mandatorily or not.”
He stressed that rather than repealing the Act, the misuse of the Act and the illegalities perpetrated by those who are violating the act needs to be looked at. He pointed out that various Devasthans are at forefront of illegalities and irregularities. There have been cases of huge illegal buildings, mega projects in the name of development, renovation of temples, halls, rooms, lakes etc without proper procedures such as budget, approved plans, TCP technical clearance certificates, construction licenses and occupancy certificates etc. Even the concerned authorities have cleared electricity to the concerned construction sites when no occupancy was granted to the construction.
Therefore, the government has to check on a priority basis, the movable and immovable properties of all Devasthans and find out whether they followed the mandatory rules. In addition, it has to be probed if the illegal constructions have been carried out by the managing committees either by the mahajans or non-mahajans or by politicians, including panchas of the panchayats on the property belonging to Devasthan.
Naik said that such illegal constructions should be demolished and the land should be restored to its original position. It must be checked how many non-mahajans have occupied the land belonging to various Devasthans. If so, these plots should be be recovered and given back to the Devasthans.
Before repealing the Mazania Act, records of these lands belonging to respective Devasthans must be checked and made encroachment-free by appointing a committee headed by a retired government officer or a retired judge.
The documentation of Devasthans must also be checked. Some Devasthans have sold land to tenants without sale deeds and allowed them to do construct illegally. Such constructions should be demolished.
All the assets of Devasthan such as gold and precious stones must be audited and the same should be checked as per inventory. If any discrepancy is found, cases must be filed against the concerned managing committees to recover the same.
Following all these, the repealing process of Mazania Act may be discussed with the respective Devasthan Committees and most importantly if the mahajans deem it necessary
