Immovable assets such as land and building, which belonged to temples in the State, will be protected and encroachers will be taken to task as per the law, said HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekar Babu here on Sunday.
The Minister was here to inspect 9.58 acres of retrieved land belonging to Gowri Vinayagar Temple.
On Saturday, local HR & CE officials sealed the property on Sivaganga-Melur Road that was encroached by people said to be close to a former AIADMK minister.
Mr. Sekar Babu said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had clearly instructed that no encroachment or illegal occupants of temple properties would be allowed by the government. Instead of indulging in politics, the DMK government was determined to retrieve all such properties that might have been encroached by people in power in the past.
He also clarified that action would be initiated after a thorough probe against elected representatives (present or past) and officials. “Whoever committed a mistake and was found an accused, he or she will have to face the music,”" he added.
The Gowri Vinayagar Temple here, which is under HR&CE administration, had a little over 140 acres of land in the temple's name.
The complaint was that 9.58 acres of land belonging to the temple was encroached by some people close to the former AIADMK minister. After taking over the land, they connived with officials and obtained temporary power connection for the site. Also, construction activities were under way.
The Minister said temporary power connection was given in the name of Saravanan. After thorough examination, action would be taken against the encroachers, he replied to a query.
After a section of media reported about the encroachment last week, HR&CE officials swung into action. As a sequel, the land had been retrieved, Mr Sekar Babu said and thanked media persons for exposing the encroachment.
Asked about BJP leader H. Raja’s claims that about one lakh acres of temple land were encroached in Tamil Nadu, the Minister said that if the BJP leader gave details, the government would take firm action as per the laws.
Rural Development Minister K.R. Periakaruppan, Collector P. Madhusudhan Reddy and others were present during the inspection.
