KARNATAKA'S TEMPLE BILL 

The Karnataka government's bid to amend the law governing the taxation of Hindu temples faced a roadblock in the Legislative Council, where the primary Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), holds a majority.

The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was presented in the Legislative Assembly on February 19 and approved on February 22. However, it was turned down two days later by the Legislative Council.

2. Proposed Changes in Taxation of Karnataka's Temples

• The Karnataka government proposed amendments to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, aimed at altering the taxation structure for temples in the state.
• The primary change was to divert "10% of the gross income of institutions whose gross annual income exceeds Rs 1 crore" to a common pool for temple maintenance. This was a shift from the existing "10% of the net income of institutions whose gross annual income exceeds Rs 10 lakh." Net income is calculated after deducting expenses, while gross income refers to the total revenue.
• Additionally, the Bill suggested allocating 5% of the income of institutions earning between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to the common pool, changing the previous income bracket from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
• The common fund pool was established by the government in 2011 through amendments to the 1997 Act.
• Had the amendments passed, they would have resulted in an additional Rs 60 crore from 87 temples with incomes exceeding Rs 1 crore and 311 temples with incomes over Rs 10 lakh.
• Section 19 of the Act outlines the purposes for which the common fund may be used, including religious studies and propagation, temple maintenance, and other charitable causes.
• The government had proposed using the increased funds to provide aid to lower-income temples, offer terminal benefits to ailing priests, and grant scholarships to children from priest families.

3. Criticism of the Amendments

• The proposed amendments faced criticism government for attempting to "rob" temples and questioned why only Hindu temples were being targeted for these changes.
• Why is the government eyeing the incomes of Hindu temples when it is not interested in the revenue of other religions?"
• In response, The amendments stated that there has always been a mandate to create a common pool since the enactment of the Act in 1997 clarified that the common pool is administered solely for religious purposes connected with the Hindu religion and that it will continue to be used for the same purposes.

Apart from the changes related to the taxation of temples, the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024 proposed several other amendments

1. Composition of the Committee of Management: Under Section 25 of the Act, temples and religious institutions are required to form a “committee of management” consisting of nine people, including a priest, at least one member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, two women, and one member of the locality of the institution. The Bill proposed to include, among the remaining four members, one person “skilled in Vishwakarma Hindu temple architecture and sculpture.”

2. Appointment of the Chairman: The Bill also gave the Rajya Dharmika Parishat the power to appoint the chairman of these committees. The Rajya Dharmika Parishat is a body appointed by the state government that is empowered to make decisions on a variety of subjects related to religion. This includes religious disputes over practices and customs, whether a temple is a “composite institution” by allowing religious worship besides Hinduism, whether a temple is private, public or denominational, and whether a person is a hereditary trustee of a religious institution by succession.

3. Creation of Oversight Committees: Finally, the Bill also required the state government to create district-level and state high-level committees to oversee infrastructural projects that can facilitate pilgrimage to temples making more than Rs 25 lakh annually.

5. Temple Revenue Management in Other States

Telangana

• Telangana's approach shares similarities with the Karnataka model. Under Section 70 of the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987, the Commissioner in charge of the administration of religious institutions can create a “Common Good Fund”.
• Religious institutions making more than Rs 50,000 annually are required to pay 1.5% of their annual income to the state government. After the government is repaid for expenses it has incurred under the Telangana Act, the commissioner can direct the remaining funds to the Common Good Fund. These funds are utilized for the maintenance and renovations of temples, Veda-pathasalas (religious schools), and for the establishment of new temples.

Kerala

• Kerala employs an entirely different system, where temples are often managed by state-run Devaswom (temple) Boards.
• The state has five autonomous Devaswom Boards that manage over 3,000 temples. These boards are run by nominees appointed by the ruling government, who are often politicians.
• Each Devaswom Board has a budget allocated by the state government and is not required to share revenue figures. The state has also enacted separate laws for each Devaswom board (besides Travancore and Cochin which are governed by the same Act), which deals with the administration and management of temples under their aegis.