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The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
CMDA hands over ₹ 2.25 crore to Dy CM for developing badminton court in CM's Mini Stadium in Kolathur
Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu, along with officials from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), handed over a cheque for ₹2.25 crore to Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Wednesday. The funds from CMDA will be used for constructing an indoor badminton court at the Chief Minister's Mini Stadium in the Kolathur Assembly Constituency in Chennai. The badminton court project inside the mini stadium is a part of the Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam initiative. Officials from the Department of Sports Development were also present.
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
2,00,001-acre boundary stone to mark temple lands under purview of HR&CE department installed
CHENNAI A boundary stone to mark the 2,00,001 acres of land belonging to temples under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department in various parts of Tamil Nadu, was symbolically installed on Wednesday near Sriperumbudur. Ministers T.M. Anbarasan and P. K. Sekarbabu jointly placed the stone on the land belonging to Sri Valleeswarar temple in the presence of officials, including Kancheepuram Collector Kalaiselvi Mohan, an official press release here said. The project to mark lands belonging to temples was inaugurated at Kapaleeswarar temple on September 8, 2012. All the stones have the text HRCE engraved on them. A total of 40 tahsildars and 172 licenced surveyors using 36 DGPS rovers have been identifying and marking the lands. The 1,00,001-acre stone was kept on January 25, 2023 at Tiruvallur on the land belonging to Sri Bhavani Amman temple at Periyapalayam, the release said.
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Over 7,550 acres of temple land worth ₹7,871.23 crore retrieved in four years, says HR&CE Minister
Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P. K. Sekarbabu on Wednesday said that a total of 7,560 acres of land belonging to temples worth ₹7,871.23 crore had been retrieved in the last four years. Speaking after releasing a book with details of the lands, he said that Chief Minister M. K. Stalin had drawn up a special programme as soon as he took over. The department got 38 tahsildars on deputation and encroachments were removed. Action has been taken on encroachers. Earlier, only the commissioner could initiate action and that has been changed now, he said. Steps have been taken to change the names on pattas of 648 temples corresponding to a total of 5,400 acres of land. The pattas are in the names of the respective deities. The e-chitta has been corrected for 4,491.47 acres and a rent of ₹1,046.31 crore has been collected. The department will complete measuring and marking two lakh acres of lands and planting stones in Mevalurkuppam in Kancheepuram district. Mr. Sekarbabu welcomed the order of the Supreme Court on archakar appointments and said that identification of Agamic and non-Agamic temples would be taken up soon and posts of archakars would be filled in non-Agamic temples.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Saiva Siddhantham courses popular in HR&CE-run colleges
Saiva Siddhantham courses that include studies on the origin and development of Saiva religions, aspects of Saiva temple worship, rituals and festivals are an added attraction at colleges being run by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department on behalf of temples in the State. 'We run a six-month-long certificate course, which anybody can join. This is a very popular one, especially in the four new colleges started at Kolathur, Oddanchathiram, Thiruchengodu and Vilathikulam. Since there is no age bar and the classes happen in the weekends, students find it convenient,' explained an official source in the HR&CE. All the nine colleges being run by the department have applied for affiliation for the B.A. Saiva Siddhantham course. 'Of these, seven have obtained affiliation for the course and have started distributing application forms. Apart from arts and science courses, students seem to have a liking for this course too,' said P. K. Sekarbabu, Minister for HR&CE. The nine colleges, which include a polytechnic, have close to 12,300 seats and the four new colleges seem to be more popular than the existing institutions. Four of them are being run on self-financing mode, meaning they are funded by the respective temples and the others are aided. 'In the last four years we have followed only government norms when it comes to fees. We have not increased the fee amount for our schools and colleges since the poorest of poor come here. For the past two years, we have also been able to get companies to come for campus recruitments,' he added.
The Hindu
04-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Broadway bus terminus in city awaits revamp
'There are hawkers occupying a major portion of the bus terminus than the buses. The path to the bus terminus and bus bays are filled with potholes. Worse still, several shops encroach the footpath of the bus bays,' he says. G. Maniyarasu, a regular commuter from Koyambedu, says the bus terminus becomes slushy even if it merely drizzles, and floods when it pours. Though its three bus bays have shelters, they are of little use to the commuters as hawkers and vagrants occupy them. Amid the daily churn of buses and commuters, the long-awaited ₹822.70 crore redevelopment of the Broadway Bus Terminus remains only on paper. The redevelopment of the terminus, which is the nodal transport hub for MTC buses, from where hundreds of buses are operated to various destinations, has been hanging in the balance for several years. While the terminus was proposed to be shifted to a temporary area near the Royapuram railway station, residents said it was not feasible to shift the entire bus fleet to the temporary location, as the Beach Road and Prakasam Road — the two arterial roads through which MTC buses have to ply if shifted— are already facing traffic bottlenecks due to heavy vehicular movement. According to a senior official of the MTC, the bus terminus belongs to the Chennai Corporation, and when the civic body advises them to vacate the premises, the project will be done. A retired MTC official said the best option for renovating the facility, without disturbing the bus operations, would be to shift a portion of its bus services to Island Grounds, and rent the vacant land, which is located adjacent to the present bus terminus and belongs to the Pachaiyappas Educational Trust, as a temporary alternative. Approved in 2024 under the Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam (North Chennai Development Plan), the project was to transform the ageing hub into a state-of-the-art Multi-Modal Facility Complex — but for now, regular commuters continue to cram into the existing facility. Funding for the project includes ₹200 crore from Chennai Metro Rail Limited, ₹115 crore from the CMDA, and ₹506 crore from the Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation. Further, a multi-modal transport hub with a nine-storey parking facility and an eight-storey terminal with commercial space was planned, CMDA Minister P.K. Sekarbabu said in November 2024. Regarding the project's progress, an official in the CMDA said the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) was yet to hand over the land. 'The reasons for that are unknown. Once the land is handed over, works will begin,' he said. However, a GCC official said no land-related file was received from the CMDA for the purpose. On temporarily shifting the bus terminus to a three-acre plot on Ibrahim Street in the Royapuram Zone (V), the civic official said, 'Over 200 vendors have been shifted to the new plot, and the relocation is expected to be done by December 2025.'
