Vijayawada: Endowments Department to lease out commercial land

Vijayawada: Endowments department has embarked on a massive plan to lease the commercial lands in urban areas that have been lying idle throughout the state in order to bring them into proper utilisation.

Addressing the assistant commissioners of the department of all the 13 districts in the state through a video conference on Thursday evening, endowments commissioner P Arjun Rao asked them to first identify such lands in urban areas in the state that have not been in proper utilisation and offer them for long-term lease in a transparent manner. He, however, told the assistant commissioners that they can, under the supervision of the deputy commissioners of their respective districts, take an independent decision on leasing out the lands up to an extent of 2,000 square yards.

But they were asked to obtain prior permission of the endowments commissioner for leasing out the lands having an extent of above 2,000 square yards. Maintaining that this move is aimed at generating revenue to the temples located in the respective districts during this corona pandemic, Arjuna Rao hoped that the leasing out of the commercial lands will certainly make the temples self-sustainable.

He admitted that the revenue of all the temples in the state, including the major places of worship, has drastically come down due to the outbreak of Covid-19. He felt that the leasing out of the commercial lands in urban areas will largely help the respective temple administrations to be self-sufficient.

Observing that it has come to his notice that large tracts of land in various districts has been encroached upon, the commissioner also directed the assistant and deputy commissioners to identify such lands and submit a report to him at the earliest possible. This should be taken seriously and they should work on it from today itself, he said.

In another video conference with the deputy commissioners of major temples in the state, including Kanakadurga temple, Srisailam, Simhachalam and Sri Kalahasthi, Arjuna Rao directed them to ensure that the Covid norms are stringently followed. Only 50 per cent of the staff members working in the temples should be allowed to work on an alternate basis and they should be provided with food and accommodation atop the hills.

Fifty per cent of the staff members, including the priests, should be allowed to work for 15 days alternate during which time they will be provided food and accommodation on the temple precincts, he said. This should be followed strictly and any violation in this will be viewed seriously, he added.