Chennai: Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) Chief Coordinator Seeman has accused the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department of being riddled with corruption worth thousands of crores, turning it into an unethical entity.
In his statement, Seeman highlighted the issue of the Melpathi Draupadi Amman Temple in Villupuram district, where the government initially refused to open the temple for public worship. Following NTK’s announcement of a temple entry protest, HR&CE Minister Sekar Babu assured that the temple would be opened within a week. Seeman questioned why the government had not made such an announcement before NTK’s protest and criticized the HR&CE Department for selectively evicting poor families from temple lands while failing to reclaim thousands of acres of temple properties controlled by wealthy individuals.
He further condemned the department for its Tamil language neglect, pointing out the lack of Tamil inscriptions in temples in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, and the presence of Telugu signboards in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai temple. He also criticized the DMK government’s “two-language policy” as hypocritical. Additionally, he slammed the state’s double standards, citing how ₹10 lakh compensation was given to victims of illicit liquor tragedies, while no such relief was offered for temple workers who died in accidents, like the mahout trampled by an elephant.
Seeman alleged that HR&CE’s revenue from offerings, hundis, and temple assets is being misused on a massive scale, making it impossible to quantify the corruption. He demanded that the department release a white paper detailing its income and expenditures to ensure transparency. While NTK does not oppose government administration of temples, he emphasized that HR&CE should not turn into a den of corruption that loots temples.
