The Justice BP Das Commission of Enquiry, set up to suggest measures for reforms in rituals and proper management of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, submitted its first interim report to the State Government on Thursday.
Commission Secretary BP Parija submitted the report of over 1,000 pages to law Minister Arun Sahoo in Bhubaneswar. The commission was set up in July last year after the Niladri Bije fiasco in which servitors misbehaved with the Puri district Collector and local journalists.
Although the details of the report were not known, sources said the commission has suggested certain measures for both district administration and police administration for proper temple management as well as for smooth functioning of rituals of the deities.
The commission was also learnt to have suggested measures for safety and security of the devotees visiting the 12th-Century shrine. Among others, the commission has also suggested for stringent actions against erring servitors, who indulge in indiscipline.
The commission had received more than 20,000 affidavits, a majority of them making suggestions for temple reforms. The Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peeth, the Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, the district administration and members of several cultural and social organisations have submitted affidavits.