The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has asked servitors of the shrine in Puri not to receive offerings or donations by devotees as per the direction of the Supreme Court in this regard.
The temple administration has also requested devotees to deposit their donations either in the temple’s Hundi or at Temple Head Office and Branch Offices and Temple Information Centres.
A Vacation Bench of justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ashok Bhushan of the apex court, hearing a petition filed by one Mrinalini Padhi highlighting difficulties faced by devotees at the Jagannath Temple and their harassment or exploitation by servitors, had on Friday directed the temple administrator to “ensure that no direct collection of the offerings is made by any Sevaks and all the offerings either in hundi or are deposited and accounted for and properly utilized”.
“There should not be individual pockets by the Sevaks/attendants who may be given their due remuneration as per rules. To ensure this, the help of CCTV cameras and their footages or other steps may be explored,” the Bench ruled.