The newly elected BJP government in Odisha, in its first Cabinet meeting, has approved a proposal to re-open all four gates of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri on early Thursday morning.
The cabinet also decided to set up a corpus fund for immediate requirement of the 12th-century shrine.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, after chairing a meeting with his ministers at the state secretariat Lok Seva Bhawan, said, "The state government decided to re-open all the four gates of the Puri Jagannath temple in early morning tomorrow in the presence of all ministers. Devotees will have access to the temple through all four gates."
CM Majhi said that opening all the temple gates was one of the promises of the BJP’s election manifesto and added that the devotees were facing problems due to closure of the gates, as per PTI.
The previous BJD administration-led by former CM Naveen Patnaik had continued to keep the four gates of the temple closed since the Covid-19 pandemic. The devotees could enter through only one gate and there were demands that all gates be opened.
The CM further said that the Cabinet has decided to constitute a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore to look after the issues related to the shrine for its conservation and preservation.
He added that all ministers will leave for Puri on Wednesday night and stay in the pilgrim town so that they can be present when all four gates will be opened on Thursday morning.
He further said that the state government will also take steps to raise the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 3100 per quintal and the department concerned has been asked to take measures in this regard.
A committee will be formed very soon for implementation of the proposal to increase the MSP for paddy to Rs 3100 per quintal, he said.