Tax on temples : What do BJP and Congress say?
25/2/2024
BJP is alleging that the Congress government of Karnataka is adopting anti-Hindu policies and it is bound to lead to violence, fraud and misuse of funds. On the other hand, the state government has rejected all the allegations and said that 10% tax will be taken only on temples with revenue of more than ₹ 1 crore.
The Congress government claims that the money collected will be used for “religious council” purposes to improve the financial condition of priests and to improve C-grade temples or temples that are in very poor condition and to provide services to temple priests. The children will be given quality education.
It may be noted that the Siddaramaiah government had proposed in the Assembly that the state government would take 10 percent of the total income of rich temples. The bill to this effect could not be passed in the Legislative Council on Friday.
Whereas, this ‘Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Bill 2024’ was passed in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday, 22 February.
This bill provides to impose 10% tax on Hindu temples with revenue of more than Rs 1 crore. 5% tax will be levied on temples whose revenue is between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
On this, Karnataka BJP President Vijendra Yediyurappa has alleged that the Congress government wants to fill its coffers with the money of Hindu temples.
The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which was passed by the Legislative Assembly earlier this week, was defeated by a voice vote in the Legislative Council , where the opposition has a majority, on Friday.
