Puri Jagannath Temple Gates Open

All four of the Puri Jagannath Temple's dwaras, or gates, were open to devotees on Thursday, as the Bharatiya Janata Party had pledged in its platform. The Council of Ministers was present as the gates were opened today at the Mangala Aarti.

Mohan Majhi chaired the first cabinet meeting of the new administration just hours after taking the oath of office as the Chief Minister of Odisha on Wednesday. He made four significant decisions that were in keeping with the pre-poll pledges made by the BJP in its Sankalp Patra.

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Image by Mathrubhumi English

How Come the Gates Were Closed?

When the Covid epidemic struck, the temple's doors were shut. Later, the four gates around the temple remained closed, with the exception of the Singhadwara (Lion Gate), which was opened to devotees, and the Ashwa Dwara (Horse Gate), Vyaghra Dwara (Tiger Gate), and Hasti Dwara (Elephant Gate).

Following the event, there was a significant rush at the Puri Srimandir and lengthy lines in front of the Singhadwara. Devotees have been calling for the gates to open in order to receive the Holy Trinity's darshan smoothly ever since.

One of the major pre-election pledges made by the BJP was to open all four of the Srimandir gates.

What Odisha CM Mohan Majhi said After Oath-Taking Ceremony?

Detailing several key decisions of the first cabinet meeting, Majhi on Wednesday said, "...Taking into account various problems and the issue of 'Asmita' of Odia people, four major decisions have been taken in the cabinet meeting. Considering the huge rush and inconvenience caused to the large number of devotees at Puri Srimandir, it has been decided that all the four dwaras of Srimandir will be opened during the Mangala Alati tomorrow (Thursday) in the presence of the Council of Ministers as mentioned in the BJP's election manifesto earlier. The decision has been taken to facilitate smooth darshan of the devotees."

Additional Significant Cabinet Choices

"There was no appropriate allocation of funds for the management, beautification, and repair of Srimandir earlier," CM Majhi added. The Cabinet has determined that the management, upkeep, and embellishment of the Srimandir will shortly get a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore."

The BJP, which is currently in power, has also chosen to introduce the "Samrudha Krushaka Niti," a specific programme for farmers. As stated in the BJP's previous election programme, the scheme will see the government take action to give farmers an MSP of Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy.

"The concerned department has been ordered to prepare and present a blueprint and guidelines in this regard so that the government could implement it within 100 working days," CM Majhi said.

CM Majhi declared that the Subhadra Yojana will be implemented by the new government for the benefit of women and children in the State, citing the failure of the previous government's plans to empower women.

"The Cabinet has approved to provide a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 to women under the scheme within 100 days," the newly elected chief minister of Odisha stated.

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