K’taka Guv reserves temple Bill for Prez nod

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, one which aims to benefit priests serving in low-income temples, for the assent of the President.

The Karnataka Assembly passed the Bill on March 6, 2024, and submitted to the Governor afresh on May 16, 2025.

The Bill aims to enhance the common pool of funds from the high-income generating temples and improve the lives of priests serving in low-income temples, according to a source in the Religious Endowment Department said.

Karnataka Religious Endowment Minister Ramalinga Reddy had earlier said that there were C-Grade 3,000 temples in the state that have an income of less than Rs 5 lakh, from where ‘Dharmika Parishad’ gets no money. Dharmika Parishad is a committee that aims to improve the temple management for the benefit of pilgrims.

There are B-grade temples with income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, from where five per cent of the gross income has been going to the Dharmika Parishad since 2003. The committee has been getting 10 per cent revenue from temples with a gross income of above Rs 25 lakh since 2003, the Minister said.

Under the new law, temples with income of up to Rs 10 lakh don’t need to pay anything to the Parishad, while five per cent would be collected from temples with gross income between Rs 10 lakh and less than Rs 1 crore. Ten per cent of the income will be collected from temples whose income is above Rs 1 crore. All this amount will reach the Dharmika Parishad, Reddy had said.

He said the state government wanted to help 40,000 to 50,000 priests. “If the money reaches Dharmika Parishad, we can provide insurance cover to priests, scholarships to their children,” he added.

“I am of the opinion that instead of giving assent to the proposed Bill, I would deem fit to reserve it for the kind consideration of the President to avoid constitutional complications, since it involves constitutional restrictions as well as scrutiny,” Gehlot said in his order on Friday.

India