Details of plight of Hindu Temples in Andhra Pradesh (Eenadu Interview)
Plight of Hindu Temples in Andhra Pradesh
(From Eenadu TV Interview coverage in 2007)
Some Highlights
Total Temple Lands: 420,000 acres
Total number of temples under Govt: 34,443
87% of Temples (30,000 temples) under Government control cannot even afford Dhoopa, Deepa, Naivedyam.
20% of Temples Lands (80,845 acres) are encroached mostly by political patronages.
40% (167,000 acres) are leased mostly by politicians under fictitious names paying Rs 3 to Rs 40 per annum.
Number of court cases: 6547
Details of Lands owned by Temples in Andhra Pradesh |
|
Total number of temples under Govt control |
34, 443 |
Number of temples with land |
15,000+ |
Total land owned by temples |
4,20,000 acres |
Metta |
3,24,000 acres |
Magani |
95,000 acres |
Land fit for cultivation |
3,47,000 acres |
Forest land |
14,000 acres |
Hills, mountains |
16,000 acres |
Land unfit for cultivation |
32,000 |
Land in urban area/cities |
9077 acres |
Fruit plantations |
1611 acres |
Note: Since 1972, there are no land donations to Temples. Land under priests control is 1,32,000 of which Magani is 22,000, Metta is1,10,000
Encroachments (20% of Total Temples lands)
Encroached land |
80485 acres |
Number of encroachers |
69,000 |
Encroachers in cities |
33, 000 |
Land encroached for housing |
31, 747 |
Bhooporatam – by naxals and communist groups |
610 acres |
Land sold by public auction |
5825 acres |
Money gained through public auction |
27.81 crores |
Land transferred to private parties |
1311 ( money recovered 4.75 crores) |
Land taken by Govt. for its programs |
12, 068 acres |
Specific examples:
Srikakulam: 786 temples own 10, 440 acres farm land, 105 fruit plantation. Still most of the temples cannot even afford daily dhoopa, deeva, naivedya
Sri Kurmam and Arasavilli: Most of the land owned is encroached
Simhachalam: 33% of the land is lost to encroachers.
West Godavari: Temples have 12,000 acres , most of the land is encroached. Most of the documents related to these lands have been destroyed by corrupt officials.
Bhadrachalam: Sita Rama Swamy temple owned 900 acres are encroached
Vijayawada Kanaka Durga temple: It has 220 acres, most of it is encroached
Kurnool: Temple land is 60,000 acres. Hundreds of acres are encroached.
Sale/Lease of Temple Lands
Land given on lease |
1,67,000 acres |
No. of lease holders |
50,000 |
Almost all the lease holders are politicians operating under benami names (fictitious names). Most of the places the lease value a temple gets is Rs. 3 to Rs. 40 per acre.
Within 1 year of YSR Government, 1000 acres of land have been illegally transferred. The endowments commission at that time sold 245 acres of land in Ranga Reddy district at far below market rates.
Current YSR Government attempted to sell 50,000 acres. The market value of this property is 7,500 crores.
Specific Examples
East Godavari District: Temples own 21,000 acres. This is one of the most fertile lands in India. But the temples get Rs, 30 lakh per annum as lease amount i.e., Rs. 140/acre whereas private farmers earn thousands of rupees/acre.
Srikakulam: 786 temples own 10, 440 acres farm land, 105 fruit plantation. Still most of the temples cannot even afford daily dhoopa, deeva, naivedya
Simhachalam: 67% of, Land gets a lease of Rs. 6 lakh/annum
Ranga reddy district: Jannaya gudem:Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple proerty worth 850 acres has been taken over in the name of Fab city. The market value of land is Rs. 1 crore/acre whereas Govt decided the market value as Rs, 40,000 i.e., xx% of the market value but hasn’t paid even a single rupee to Endowments department.
East Godavari Temples: Recently in a survey of Fixed Deposits in temples in East Godavari 66% of temples are gone/spent.
Hyderabad?: Government never deposited money for the land taken for Imliban bustand.
Guntur: 12 acres of hot property worth 12 crores has been sold by Govt for 36 lakhs.
Note: Money recovered on all the property in terms of lease - Rs. 44 cr/annum
Disappearing Temple Lands
Most of the temple lands in East and West Godavari have turned into illegal prawn ponds.
In Anantapur, temple lands come to 29,000 acres. Even officials don’t know whether there is any income
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