Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) is a statutory body constituted by an Act of the J&K Legislative Assembly. All the endowments including the land and buildings attached or apportioned to the shrine from Katra to the holy cave are under the administrative control of the Shrine Board. Using his powers, the Additional CEO of the Shrine Board has issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC banning continuation of any operations on the track between Darshani Deodi and Bhawan with immediate effect. Before issuing the order, he had taken the police and legal authorities on board because a serious case of carrying out unauthorized activity had been brought to the notice of the Board.
This legal action was necessitated when it was found that some persons were trying to carry on their unauthorized act of collecting commission from the pony wallah/palki wallahs/pithus and palanquin bearers carrying the pilgrims to the Bhawan for darshan. Unauthorized counters had been set up along the track from Darshani Deodi to Bhawan and the managers of these counters demanded commission from the pilgrims or the pony wallahs etc. There was no justification for them to conduct such unauthorized activates because the shrine board had never authorized them to collect any commission or tax of any kind. Pilgrims who need services of the pony wallah/palki wallahs and pithus at the base centre which is Katra engage them from the base. These miscreants fleeced the pilgrims as they moved along the track to the holy cave. Many a time altercation between the pilgrims and the commission charging gangs ensued. The pony wallahs would often feel embarrassed in such situations. In one case, the angry pony wallahs and palki wallahs smashed a counter illegally set up on the track to Bhawan. Many complaints poured in at the Shrine Board demanding that harassment of pilgrims on this count be stopped forthwith. It is clear that no taxation can be there without adequate services rendered in return.
In our country, we find that people try to make pecuniary benefits at religious places of repute where pilgrims and visitors come in hundreds of thousands. Beggars, handicapped persons, lames, blinds and destitute all flock to such shrines and find a vantage point to sit down and expect charities from the pilgrims and visitors. More often than not they present a very obnoxious and ugly picture creating bad impression on the visitors. Fortunately to some extent the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi has been spared the ugly scenes so far, thanks to the vigilance of the Shrine Board. But then setting up of counters to charge commission from services providers had become too notorious to be allowed to continue. Authorities were forced to swing into action. This will relieve the pilgrims and the services providers from embarrassment that hampered their pilgrimage for no fault of theirs.
If the number of pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine has increased manifold over the years and now stands at over one crore in a year, one of the reasons for this tremendous growth is the efficient administration of the Shrine Board of which the Governor is the Chairperson. Expansion of activities of public interest undertaken by the Shrine Board is a proof of its efficient functioning. The Board has established a university which is reported to be a centre of teaching and research of high order. Facilities provided to the pilgrims are most carefully put in place. In such a healthy scenario it is totally unacceptable that some private persons find the clandestine ways of making some money through unauthorized and illegal activity. We highly appreciate the Additional CEO of the Shrine Board taking a bold action to get the pilgrims rid of a nuisance they were faced with while going up the track to reach Bhawan. The Shrine Board is constantly taking stock of how more improvements can be possible in making pilgrimage comfortable and successful for the pilgrims coming from far off corners of the country. With rail link being extended to Katra, there is every scope for considerable increase in the number of pilgrims to the holy shrine. As such the Shrine Board has many responsibilities to contribute to overall development of Jammu region.
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