Pune: The state govt’s decision to allot Rs1.05 crore in 2018 for development works at Shree Ishaneshwar temple — founded by rape-accused astrologer Ashok Kharat (67) — at Mirgaon village in Sinnar of Nashik district triggered an uproar in the assembly on Wednesday.Raising the issue in the House, NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad said, “His (Kharat’s) name surfaced in a Nashik-based reporter’s murder case in 2007. A news series was published on his acts. We can’t say Kharat was known to people or reporters. If we give funds to establishments of such people, it will be like givinggovernment approval to wrong practices such as black magic.”According to a 2018 Govt Resolution (GR), funds were earmarked to build facilities for devotees at Kharat’s Shree Ishaneshwar temple, built under the banner of Sri Shivnika Sansthan. Replying to a query about the funding, minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam said the funds were sanctioned for “visitors’ facilities” rather than “individual benefit”.The state releases funds in a phased manner for development of religious and tourist places. According to the tourism and cultural affairs department’s GR issued in 2018, out of the sanctioned Rs1.05 crore (Rs105.83 lakh), Rs25 lakh was disbursed for the development of Shree Ishaneshwar temple. The disbursed money was used to build an assembly hall, public toilets and changing rooms. It was utilised for landscaping, gardening and fixing paver blocks on the temple premises too.RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar demanded a high-level inquiry by the state govt and arrest of all officials involved in the process of allocating funds to Kharat’s temple. “An investigation must uncover how the proposal for funding construction at this site reached the govt. Those responsible for drafting and executing it should be behind bars,” Kumbhar said.Kharat’s Shree Ishaneshwar temple drew flak after the Nashik-based astrologer was arrested on March 18 in a rape case. Water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on March 21 ordered an immediate review and cancellation of a 2020 order granting bulk water to Shri Shivanika Sansthan, following the arrest of its founder, Kharat.
