Grant For Oru Kala Pooja

What is the Grant For Oru Kala Pooja?

Grant For Oru Kala Pooja is an annual financial assistance given by the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf, Government of Puducherry, to Hindu religious institutions in the Union Territory that have poor resources. Oru Kala Pooja means one-time daily worship, a single round of ritual worship performed each day. In a temple without land, endowments or a steady stream of offerings, even that one daily service costs money for oil, flowers, camphor and the priest's honorarium, and it is the first thing that lapses when income falls.

According to the RTI manual published by the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf, "Government grant @ Rs.5,000/- per annum per temple is being extended to the temples in the Union Territory of Pondicherry" for the performance of Oru Kala Pooja.

The legal basis is a set of rules dated 8 March 1976, "Rules to regulate the release of Financial Assistance to the Hindu religious institutions in the U.T. of Pondicherry for the performance of Oru Kala Pooja, payment of Current and Water Consumption Charges and desilting of temple ponds/lakes". The stated purpose of the rules is to facilitate the expeditious sanction of financial assistance to religious institutions having poor resources.

Alongside the pooja grant, the same rules and the same application form cover two running-cost grants and one maintenance grant. The department's published sanction lists show temples receiving Rs 5,000 per annum for Oru Kala Pooja, Rs 500 per annum towards current charges and Rs 250 per annum towards water charges, in combinations that vary from temple to temple depending on what was applied for.

Who is eligible for the Oru Kala Pooja grant?

A religious institution can apply if:

• It is a Hindu religious institution situated in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• It has poor resources, the rules of 1976 are framed specifically for institutions in that position, and the application form asks the institution to state whether the work could not be undertaken from its own funds.
• It is either under the purview of the Pondicherry Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1972, or located in an economically weaker section area or Adi-Dravidar colony for which financial assistance for renovation has already been extended by the Government. Annexure-2 asks this question directly and requires the G.O. number and date where the second limb applies.

Who cannot apply:

• Individual devotees and private persons. This is an institutional grant. No individual receives money under it, and there is no personal benefit to claim.
• Temples with adequate resources of their own. The scheme exists for institutions having poor resources.
• Institutions outside the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Wakfs and mosques, which are covered by a separate route, the RTI manual records that Government grant-in-aid is extended to Wakfs and mosques for renovation and special repair works through the Pondicherry Wakf Board, based on donations realised from the public and subject to grant-in-aid rules.

What documents are required?

The application is Annexure-2 to the department's RTI manual: "Application for grant-in-aid to perform Oru Kala Pooja / meet electricity consumption charges / meet water consumption charges / desilting tanks/ponds/wells in Hindu religious institutions having poor resources."

How to apply for the Oru Kala Pooja grant

1. Confirm the institution's status. Establish whether the temple is under the purview of the Pondicherry Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1972, or is located in an economically weaker section area or Adi-Dravidar colony for which the Government has already extended renovation assistance. In the second case, trace the G.O. number and date of that earlier sanction — the form asks for it.
2. Obtain the Annexure-2 application form from the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf, Government of Puducherry. The department publishes its forms and RTI manual through hri.py.gov.in and py.gov.in.
3. Fill in the institution's particulars, name, full postal address with PIN code, and the name, address and phone number of the President or Special Officer.
4. State the purpose clearly. Tick or write whether the grant is for Oru Kala Pooja, for electricity consumption charges, for water consumption charges, for desilting, or for a combination. Attach the electricity or water policy number with proof if those heads are claimed, and the total area of the tank, pond or well if desilting is claimed.
5. Have the form signed by the President or Special Officer of the religious institution, with designation.
6. Submit it to the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf, Puducherry, and keep an acknowledgement with the file reference.

How is the sanction released?

Sanction is by Government order. The department's published statements of assistance list each temple by name and address, against a file number in the form of a CHRI/T.6(GIA) reference, with the amount sanctioned per annum under each of the three heads, Oru Kala Pooja, current charges and water charges.

Because the grant is annual and per temple, it is a recurring support rather than a one-time payment, and the department reviews the position temple by temple. The published lists show that many temples receive only the Rs 5,000 pooja grant, some receive the pooja grant plus water charges, and some receive all three heads.

How does this differ from the renovation assistance?

The Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf runs three distinct grant streams, and it is easy to confuse them:

• Government grant for renovation under the Hindu Agama requirement that every temple be renovated once in twelve years through Ashtabandhanam and Kumbabhishekam. Here the department releases two-thirds of the estimated amount as Government grant, against a one-third matching contribution realised from the public on an approved plan and estimate. The form is Annexure-1.
• One-time financial assistance for renovation and special repairs to temples not under the department's purview, situated in Adi-Dravidar colonies or economically weaker section areas, towards the purchase of building materials.
• Grant for Oru Kala Pooja, current and water charges, and desilting, this scheme, under the 1976 rules, on Annexure-2.

A temple that has already received renovation assistance in an EWS area or Adi-Dravidar colony is expressly contemplated as an applicant for the Oru Kala Pooja grant, which is why Annexure-2 asks for the earlier G.O. number.

Why an application may be held up

• Status of the institution not established. If the temple is neither under the 1972 Act nor covered by an earlier renovation sanction in an EWS area or Adi-Dravidar colony, the department has to determine eligibility separately.
• G.O. number and date of the earlier renovation sanction missing. Trace it from the temple's own records or from the department's sanction lists.
• No proof of the electricity or water connection where those heads are claimed. The form asks for the policy number and proof.
• Form not signed by the President or Special Officer. The application is an institutional one and must be signed by the person heading the institution.
• Institution has adequate resources. The scheme is for institutions having poor resources, and a temple with a healthy income is not the intended beneficiary.

Where to apply and how to raise a grievance

The Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf, Government of Puducherry, administers the scheme. The department was established in 1980 to protect, oversee and administer the 243 temples in the Union Territory in accordance with the Puducherry Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1972 and Rules, 1975, and it also indirectly administers about 1,000 public temples not under its direct purview. It is the second of these groups that the EWS and Adi-Dravidar colony assistance is largely aimed at.

Copies of the 1976 rules governing the release of financial assistance are, as the department's manual records, obtainable from the Government Central Press, Thattanchavady, Puducherry.

A grievance about a sanction or a delay should be raised first with the department, and thereafter through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) against the Government of Puducherry.

There is no fee for the application form or for submission. No individual or agent is authorised to charge a temple for obtaining a grant under this scheme.

How to check your application status

The Oru Kala Pooja grant is processed entirely offline, and the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf does not run an online application-tracking portal for it. Status has to be checked through the same offline channel the application went through.

What to do while the application is pending:

1. Keep the acknowledgement and file reference from submission. When Annexure-2 is submitted to the department, note the date of submission and, if a receiving officer issues one, the acknowledgement or diary number. This is the only reference point available for a follow-up.
2. Watch for the department's own sanction lists. The department publishes statements of assistance that list sanctioned temples by name and address against a file number in the CHRI/T.6(GIA) format, showing the amount released under each head, Oru Kala Pooja, current charges and water charges. A temple that has applied can check these published lists, where available, for its own name.
3. Follow up in person or in writing with the department. Since there is no helpline number or portal login for this scheme, the President or Special Officer of the institution (the same person who signed the application) should contact the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Wakf, Puducherry, quoting the submission date and any acknowledgement number, to ask whether the file has been processed, referred back for clarification, or is awaiting Government orders.
4. Expect a Government order, not an SMS or email, as the final confirmation. Because sanction is by Government order rather than an automated system, the institution will not get an automatic notification. Confirmation comes either through a communication from the department or through the institution's own follow-up once a CHRI/T.6(GIA) file number has been assigned.
5. If there is an unreasonable delay, escalate through CPGRAMS. The Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, against the Government of Puducherry, is the route for raising a delay in processing after direct follow-up with the department has not produced a response.

Because this is a small, temple-by-temple grant processed on paper, the practical status check is a phone call or visit to the department's office rather than a digital lookup, and having the submission date and any file or acknowledgement number ready makes that follow-up far more effective.