Puri: Some servitors of Satyabadi Gopinath Deb temple at Sakhigopal in the district are allegedly collecting donations (dakshina) from devotees.
Some devotees had lodged a complaint in this regard with Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi. Puri Sub-Collector Bhabataran Sahu Friday visited the shrine and probed the allegation at the behest of Padhi.
As per the allegation, servitors of the temple usually collect donations from devotees by issuing receipts. The aggrieved devotees had raised the issue with temple authorities several times, but to no avail.
The Endowment Commissioner had asked the temple authorities to set up a donation box (hundi) at the shrine one and half year ago. Accordingly, the temple management had installed a hundi on the shrine premises but they did not take any step to create awareness among the devotees in this regard.
“Taking advantage of the situation, some servitors are collecting donations from the devotees by issuing receipts in the name of Sakhigopal Sevayat Sangha,” said a source.
It is worth mentioning that Endowment Commissioner Biraja Prasad Datta had made a surprise visit to the shrine in February this year and audited its income and expenditure. Datta had submitted a report in this regard to the state government in March, sources said.
In his report, Datta had raised several issues with regard to the temple revenue and expenditure. He had recommended for a special audit of the temple finance by the Auditor General. However, the Law department is yet to do anything about it.
The Endowment Commissioner had also expressed concern over illegal collection of donations from the devotees by the servitors.
“We have asked the servitors not to collect donations from devotees. Local police have been told to take action against servitors who are seeking money from devotees. We will soon convene a meeting with the servitors to deliberate on the issue,” Sahu said.
However, the temple servitors claimed that they do not collect money from any devotee for their personal benefit. “The state government had taken control of all the landed properties of the temple through the Estate Abolition Act. We offer prasad to the presiding deity by collecting donations from devotees,” they said.
PNN