This story is from November 18, 2020

‘Need a month to fix SOP for reopening Puri shrine’

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri on Tuesday said it needs at least a month to finalize operational guidelines for reopening the 12th century shrine. The Jagannath Temple has been shut since March 20.
‘Need a month to fix SOP for reopening Puri shrine’
The government has kept a close watch on the developments. Although the infection rate has gone down, we have to be more alert in winter, Law minister Pratap Jena
BHUBANESWAR: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri on Tuesday said it needs at least a month to finalize operational guidelines for reopening the 12th century shrine. The Jagannath Temple has been shut since March 20.
The SJTA’s decision coincided with law minister Pratap Jena’s statement on Tuesday that the state government would take a call on reopening places of worship only after assessing the Covid-19 situation in winter.
“The government has kept a close watch on the developments. Although the infection rate has gone down, we have to be more alert in winter,” Jena said.
On October 8, chief secretary Asit Tripathy had asked the district administrations to hold consultations with stakeholders on reopening of religious sites. Members of the Puri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on Tuesday held a meeting to discuss preparations prior to the reopening of the shrine.
“We need at least a month or four weeks from now to finalize the rules, regulations and operational guidelines on how to allow devotees inside the temple. We expect to put in place the guidelines by the third or fourth week of December this year. Whenever the government decides to reopen temples, we will put our plan in action,” STJA’s chief administrator Krishan Kumar said.
The temple administration, which had last month held a series of consultation programmes with stakeholders on whether to reopen the shrine during the pandemic, will hold three more rounds of discussions with concerned persons, including servitors. “We have also formed a committee comprising the chief administrator, district collector, superintendent of police and other officials to draw a roadmap for the reopening of the temple,” Kumar said.
Several associations of priests of different temples have been demanding reopening of the shrines in view of the poor financial condition of servitors. While servitors staged demonstrations by beating gongs and cymbals at different places, some outfits had earlier moved the Orissa high court seeking reopening of places of worship.
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About the Author
Debabrata Mohapatra

Debabrata Mohapatra is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He had been writing for TOI from Puri since 2006 before joining the Bhubaneswar bureau in August 2010. He covers crime, law & order and Congress.

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