Govt may allow reopening of religious sites in state

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Thursday asked district collectors to prepare an action plan for reopening of religious sites.
Places of worship have been shut since March 20. The government recently extended the closure till October 31.
Chief secretary Asit Tripathy on Thursday asked the collectors to hold consultations with stakeholders of religious sites — temples, churches, mosques and gurdwaras — and explore the feasibility of reopening them in compliance with Covid guidelines. The government also directed the administrations of the Jagannath Temple in Puri and other big shrines of the state, which function under the endowment board, to prepare a plan of action for the reopening.
The collectors will submit reports within the following 10 days, the chief secretary tweeted.
“The government asked the collectors to consider graded opening of places of worship. District collectors asked to consider the possibility of opening up places of worship for public of all religious faiths where compliance of Covid guidelines is feasible and report to the government. They may prefer graded opening in the interests of containing the disease,” Tripathy tweeted.
The Centre had announced relaxations and allowed religious places to reopen from June 8 but the Odisha government has kept the sites closed in view of the alarming rise in Covid cases and deaths across the state.
Responding to several PILs filed in the Orissa high court by individuals and outfits in favour of the reopening of places of worship, the government recently conveyed its refusal to support this move. The infection of around 420 servitors of the Jagannath Temple also concerned the government.
The state’s change of stance came a day after servitors protested outside different temples by beating gongs and blowing conch shells. Some servitors of the Jagannath Temple had on Tuesday staged a demonstration to seek reopening of the shrine.
Leaders of other religious faiths welcomed the government’s tweets. “If the government issues guidelines for reopening of religious places, we will abide by them,” Sayeed Faisal Ilahi, a maulvi said.
Ayub Chinchani, a pastor of Union Church here, said the safety of the people should be accorded top priority. “We have no immediate plans to open the church this month. We will wait for the guidelines and keep a watch on the situation,” he said.

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