Making headlines for the past few days is the Pashupati Dharamshala land lease issue. The ‘Marwari Sewa Samiti’ has been leasing the land for the past many years and pays a support donation amount to the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT).

According to the 76/77 fiscal year report, they pay a mere rental amount of Rs 4,250 and an annual support compensation of Rs 51,000 while operating commercial stalls at the Pashupati Dharamshala compound and rake in an estimated profit of approximately Rs 50 million.

As per an agreement dated 26 May 2003, the Amalakot Kachari Guthi that owns this land, leased it out to the Marwari Sewa Samiti for the purpose of cattle grazing and as a pasture for the cows and oxen brought by devotees into the temple. The agreement stated that the Marwari Sewa Samiti shall run the aforementioned land paying Rs 51,000 as maintenance or a goodwill fee to the PADT with no expiry date or rent compensation specified in the agreement.

The Marwari Sewa Samiti run Pashupati Gaushala Dharamshala today runs the pilgrims rest homes, cattle grazing pastures along with renting out a few shutters across the Gaushala road; with each store shutter approximately costing around Rs 25000 to Rs 35000 per month in rent. The issue that is being heatedly debated today is not their operation of the Dharamshala but the supposed blatant misuse of government resources and public lands, an issue that has spanned decades with the government deciding to act on it only more recently.