Bowing to pressure from different quarters, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided not to give away temple lands in the form of house sites to the landless poor.
The government had announced it would distribute house sites and housing units to over 25 lakh beneficiaries on Telugu New Years Day 'Ugadi' next year.
In line with this, Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Manmohan Singh issued a memo to all district Collectors asking them to identify land available village-wise.
He also asked the Collectors to identify endowment lands, which the "temples and choultries are willing to auction with the permission of the High Court..
This stirred a controversy with the BJP and some Hindu religious organisations strongly opposing the move to dispense with temple lands.
The issue came up for discussion during a review meeting on lands Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy conducted here recently.
The Chief Minister was categorical that no temple land should be touched. Instead, he .
