Chennai: The Tamilnadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department has uploaded ownership documents of the lands belonging to temples across the State on its website.
Particulars of the lands to the extent of 3,43,647 acres have been published in the first phase-out of a total of 4,78,272 acres of land identified to belong to the temples in Tamilnadu.
HR & CE Minister minister PK Sekar Babu said 70 per cent of the total property containing the ownership documents will be uploaded on the website. He added that there are over 36,000 temples under the department’s control and the verification of title deeds was on.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court has called for an explanation from the State government on the status of 47,000 acres of temple land reportedly missing from government records since the policy note for 1984-85 states that there were 5.25 lakh acres whereas the note for 2019-20 refers to availability of only 4.78 lakh acres.
Justices N Kirubakaran and T V Thamilselvi directed Government Counsel Richard Wilson to take notice on behalf the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department and ensure that a counter affidavit was filed by 5 July.