Puri: Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA) today said that no land of Lord Jagannath is being sold.
Clarifying on the issue related to lands of Srimandir, SJTA Chief Administrator Dr. Krishan Kumar said that it has been falsely reported that 35,000 acres of land of Lord Jagannath is being sold.
This is complete distortion of facts and is blatantly false and motivated, he added.
“The lands, which are occupied or are under possession of various persons since long but belongs to Shree Jagannatha Mahaprabhu; are being settled by Temple Committee as per the “Unified Policy”, framed for the purpose in year 2003 with an objective of protection of land of Lord Jagannatha. This policy also aimed to bring transparency and uniformity in the processes to be followed for settlement of land to the eligible persons”, the SJTA Chief Administrator said in a statement.
It is important to note that from 2001 to 2010, 291 acres of land was settled and from 2011 to 2021, 96 acres of land have been settled. These have been settled for the benefit of the public mostly in the form of schools, medical college, roads, etc.
Decisions regarding the allotment of land for such public benefit infrastructure projects to Government and others is taken by the Jagannath Temple Committee, the statement added.
The SJTA urged the people of Odisha and millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath not to be misguided by such malicious lies and false reporting.