PURI: Setting its sight on a Rs 1,000 crore corpus for Srimandir by Rath Yatra in 2023, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) is planning to go for a massive general donation drive, while ramping up earnings from various other sources.The strategy for a general donation drive, the temple administration said, is being chalked out. The temple body plans to set up donation boxes at major public places including airports, railway stations, universities and other such points.
“We keep getting a lot of requests for establishing donation boxes because devotees of Lord Jagannath want to contribute wholeheartedly. We will finalise the details so that the donation points start operating from May,” Chief Administrator Dr Krishan Kumar told mediapersons here on Wednesday after the Finance Sub Committee meeting of the temple body.Currently, the fixed deposits of the temple stand at about Rs 650 crore. However, with income from interests not lucrative anymore, the temple administration is eyeing to raise its income from diversified activities such as building new assets on its land as well as streamlining income from mines.
Besides, SJTA is in talks with Idco as well as BDA to set up commercial property on the deities’ land which would not only enhance the annual earnings but also lead to bigger monetization of the assets as well as their efficient management. The temple body is also planning to streamline the stone quarries under its possession from which it aims to generate about Rs 8-10 crore from next year.
All these plans were placed before the finance sub-panel meeting which passed a Rs 202 crore annual budget for the fiscal 2021-22. In the expenses head, Rs 11 crore has been allocated for the annual Rath Yatra, Rs 5 crore for sevayat kalyan programmes while Rs 3.50 crore has been earmarked for Sevak Awas Yojna. To meet the healthcare needs of servitors, the SJTA has set aside Rs 50 lakh towards critical care support.
Similarly, the budget has pegged revenue expenditure at Rs 88.84 crore while capital expenditure is set at Rs 112.76 crore. At least Rs 5 crore has been allocated for establishment of Adarsh Gurukul Vidyalaya for which 17 acre land has been demarcated. Physical work for the school would start next financial year. Another Rs 4 crore is meant for construction of a second Bhakta Niwas.
The budget estimated a revenue receipt of Rs 90.97 crore including interest from corpus fund Rs 18.70 crore while capital receipt was estimated at Rs 90.26 crore. Fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 20.57 crore. The finance sub committee proposal would be placed before the temple managing committee and after its approval, it would be sent to the State government.
