Bangalore (PTI): Karnataka government has decided to launch a 100-day programme to renovate 200 neglected temples in the state, Minister for Religious Endowment and Housing V Somanna said on Thursday.

Under the programme, which would be launched by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on August 15, it has been proposed to identify 200 temples and renovate them with an expenditure of about Rs 20 lakh, the minister told reporters here after chairing a meeting of the Muzrai department.

The government has also directed all temples coming under Muzrai department to hold morning prayers by 6 am "for the welfare of the people of the state and the country", Somanna, who was inducted into the ministry recently after he quit Congress and joined BJP during the Lok Sabha polls, said.