Puri: An annual budget of Rs 202 crore has been prepared for the Puri Srimandir for the financial year 2021-22.
The Finance Sub-Committee of Shree Jagannath Temple Management has prepared the draft budget for the centuries-old shrine, said Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Dr. Krishan Kumar.
Talking to the media, the SJTA Chief Administrator said that the budget has a provision of about Rs 11 crore for the annual Rath Yatra of the Trinity.
A new scheme will be introduced in the new Financial Year to provide immediate financial assistance to the servitors and their families for critical illness like heart and kidney-related illness. Rs 50 lakh has been allocated for the scheme initially. It may be revised later once the guidelines are prepared, he said.
The SJTA has also recommended for a separate servitor welfare fund like the corpus and temple funds. Rs 5 crore will be deposited per year in the fund. It will be fixed. A corpus will be built up from it.
He further said, “We have planned to augment Srimandir’s corpus fund from existing Rs 650 crore to Rs 750 crore next year and Rs 1000 crore by 2023.”
The Adarsh Gurukul, for which about 17 acres of land has already been approved, will be built in the 2021-22 financial year, he added.
The budget will be approved in the next meeting of the Finance Sub-Committee of Shree Jagannath Temple Management.