Which of the following statements are correct with reference to the temple regulation in India?
- Religious endowments and institutions come under state list.
- Christians manage their places of worship and religious institutions through board run by the community.
- The government exercises considerable control in the case of many Hindu and Buddhist places of worship.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer – (b)
Explanation:
Statement 1 is not correct: Religious endowments and institutions come under Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule.
Therefore, both the Centre and states can legislate on the subject.
Statement 2 is correct: Muslims and Christians manage their places of worship and religious institutions through boards or trusts run by the community.
Statement 3 is correct: In the case of many Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist places of worship, however, the government exercises considerable control.
Several states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have enacted laws that give the government the power to administer temples, their incomes and expenditures.
States draw their power to enact such legislation from Article 25(2) of the Constitution.
It says that the government can make laws “regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice”, and “providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus”.
