Mangaluru: Additional deputy commissioner Raju K has directed officials to take precautionary measures to safeguard the assets of temples under the Hindu religious & charitable endowments department, and to prevent theft or misuse of money during hundi counting and account maintenance.He was speaking on Saturday, while chairing a district-level review meeting of the religious endowment department at the deputy commissioner’s office.The additional DC said hundis should be installed at suitable locations in temples where they are clearly visible to everyone, and should be provided with proper security. To facilitate digital donations and cashless payments, temples should provide digital payment facilities so that devotees and visitors can make donations and purchase prasad, seva tickets and other temple services through cashless modes, he said. He also instructed temple authorities to regularly verify QR codes.The additional DC said hundi counting should be conducted under the supervision of the respective tahsildars. Items such as gold and silver received during hundi counting must be valued on the same day and deposited, under proper supervision, in the respective district treasury on the same day, he instructed.He said that the hundi counting proces must be videographed, with the date and time recorded. The videography should begin from the shifting of any movable hundi, continue through the removal of money from the hundi, the distribution of cash to each staff member participating in the counting, and end only after the counted amount is returned by them. He instructed revenue, police, religious endowment department officials, local authorities and other officials to jointly visit temples at least once every 15 days, conduct inspections, ensure that all systems are functioning properly, and issue directions for immediate rectification if any shortcomings are found.With regard to the development of religious tourism, he directed officials to take necessary steps to provide road connectivity, vehicle parking facilities and basic amenities for the convenience of devotees at temples.Assistant commissioner of the religious endowment department Jayamma, muzrai department tahsildar Kiran, taluk tahsildars, secretaries of religious endowment department, temple executive officers and administrators were present.
