Temple property tenants seek CM's nod to implement rent-fixation order
Temple property tenants have urged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to implement G.O. 85 fixing residential rents, which they say would benefit about 20 lakh families.
Tenants of temple properties have appealed to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to implement a government order fixing rents for residential properties, saying the measure would directly affect an estimated 20 lakh families.
The order, G.O. 85, was issued on February 17, 2026, by the previous government. According to V. A. Balasubramanian, president of the Tamil Nadu Koil Saarndhu/Saaradha Manaiyil Kudiyuruppor Sanga Koottamaippu, the order followed considerable deliberation and the present government could weigh its merits before deciding. He said implementing it would save time and energy and help temples receive their revenue on schedule.
Committee member D. Sasikumar said that although the order was issued a few months before the Assembly elections, individual temples had not given effect to it. The order came after tenants complained that rent rates stipulated in a 2016 order were too steep.
According to the tenants' representatives, there is no rule fixing rent or lease rates due to the respective deities, and the fixation of rents has changed with every government. Only a Section of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act states that rents ought to be collected.
Mr. Balasubramanian also said temples must permit repairs to buildings and should not require tenants to sign a gift deed to secure a change in the name of the tenant.
He noted that rents were last fixed on the basis of prevailing rates in the respective areas, which the tenants objected to as well. In their view, properties built by private individuals who provided drinking water, sewage and electricity connections on land they owned cannot be equated with temple properties where the superstructure was constructed by the tenants.
Mr. Sasikumar, who is also president of the Thiruvalleswarar Nagar Welfare Association, a temple property, suggested that temples undertake an exercise to identify sub-let and sub-sold properties and bring them into the rental fold. He said this would increase temple revenue, as no rents are currently collected from those occupying such properties.