5,559 acres of temple lands recovered from private parties in TN | Times of India

CHENNAI: Several acres of land belonging to temples continues to be in the name of private persons in Tamil Nadu. The state government has recovered 5,559 acres of such lands owned by 789 temples in the last six years.

This vast acreage is 1/10th the size of Coimbatore city. It has been restored and registered in the name of temples now.

Documents tabled in the assembly on Friday show that vast areas of temple land were transferred to private persons. Pattas were wrongly transferred during the implementation of the Updating Registry Scheme (UDR) more than one decade ago.

To rectify this and get the pattas back in the name of Hindu Religious Institutions, two district revenue officers (DROs) had been posted as special officers at Madurai and Coimbatore, the government said.

In 2016-17, pattas of 1119.65 acres of lands belonging to 70 temples were restored to temples, the policy note of the Hindu religious and charitable endowments department stated.

“This is an ongoing process and steps are being taken to restore temple lands,” a senior HR and CE official said.