'Will probe': Karnataka CM Bommai after seer alleges govt takes 30% cut from grants for mutts

A Lingayat seer has sparked controversy with his allegation that mutts (monasteries) are afflicted by Karnataka's endemic corruption as they too pay a 30 per cent fee to have government-sanctioned funding issued for them.

In response to the claims, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that his administration takes the seer's accusations "extremely seriously." The claim comes only days after BJP politician K S Eshwarappa resigned from his ministerial post on Saturday, after the suspected suicide of a contractor in a hotel room in Udupi on April 12.

In a reported WhatsApp message, the contractor claimed that he was forced to take the drastic action since he was unable to satisfy Eshwarappa's demand for a 40% decrease in a public construction project scheduled to begin in Hindalga village, Belagavi district, in 2021.

"If a grant is approved for a swami (seer), it is distributed to the mutt after a 30% discount. This is the simple truth. Officials state unequivocally that your project will not begin unless the payment is deducted," Dingaleshwar Swamiji of Balehosur Mutt in Shirahatti taluk of Gadag remarked.

The seer said that none of the government's programmes are being carried out adequately in the state. "There is a pitiful situation in which 30% commission is paid. Only once you have paid 30% of the total amount will the process begin. Many contractors have ceased operations. There are merely discussions, but little progress is being made. Many MLAs set the rate upfront before beginning work," the Swamiji said.

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He went on to say that this was not only his claim, but that of the people of the state, and that corruption must be stopped.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai responded to the Lingayat seer's charges, saying, "He (the seer) is an excellent Swamiji with a long track record. The entire state is aware of it. We will undoubtedly investigate and investigate the situation further. We take his accusation extremely seriously."

Grants to mutts and monasteries are not new in Karnataka. Mutts have received subsidies from successive governments to carry out religious and humanitarian tasks.

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