Tamil Nadu HR and CE Dept for strict measures to recover pending rental dues

The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department is mulling strict measures to recover the long-pending rents of temple lands across the state.

The department, in a detailed study spread across the past four months, has found that it is owed around Rs 2,000 crore as rental arrears for all temple properties, including commercial and residential buildings.

Officials have started sealing the buildings including residential buildings that have failed to pay rent on time despite issuing several notices. The department has also commenced pasting the name of the defaulters on the doors of their homes.

HR&CE Depatment officials told IANS that a top jewellery group of Tamil Nadu has rental arrears of Rs 1.87 crore and stands among the top defaulters. This jewellery shop is in the compound of Rockfort Thayumanaswamy temple and temple authorities have also sealed two shops that had Rs 14 lakh rent arrears.

Since the crackdown for rental arrears began in the state, many shops have been either sealed or the owner has been asked to provide an explanation.

The HR&CE Department, according to officials, revised the rents of the temple-owned properties, including rental properties, in 2016. However several occupants of these lands have not paid the rents for the past several years.

The Thaymunaswamy temple at Rockfort itself is to get due of Rs 6 crore as rent after the revised rates came into effect.

"Several shops and establishments are rent defaulters. In addition to some established bands, several small shops have also not paid rents," Rockfort Arulmigu Thyamunaswamy temple Assistant Commissioner, Vijyarani.

HR &CE Minister P.K. Sekar Babu said: "Through the online system and the Integrated Temple Management System (ITMS) and through online intervention, we have collected around Rs 40 crore as rental dues but this is a small amount and the crack down on defaulters will be on with higher efficiency and to collect maximum amount."

He also said that as per the directive from the Chief Minister, dues will be collected from residential owners.

Sekar Babu said that large commercial establishments that are to pay rent dues will have to pay immediately while small shop keepers will be allowed a small time frame to make the repayment.