2011-04-06 16:09:55

Goa lifts its levy on Hindu temples


(April 06, 2011) A Church official in India’s south-western Goa State, welcomed on Monday the state government’s decision to withdraw a levy on Hindu temples the Portuguese colonial rulers imposed 125 years ago. “Of course, we welcome any such withdrawal, but it’s a non-issue,” said Pilar Fr. Feroz Fernandes, who edits a Konkani weekly. He said the levy was withdrawn to show the state’s Congress government was not pro-minorities. Some groups, especially the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state’s main opposition, had protested at the tax on Hindu shrines, even 50 years after the Portuguese’s departure from Goa. A government official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the levy, known as “derram,” was collected to defray the cost of supervising temple administration.








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.