Bihar Govt mandates registration of monasteries, temples, and trusts to prevent illegal land transactions

The Bihar government has made the registration of monasteries, temples, and trusts mandatory across the state. The move aims to regulate and safeguard the immovable properties owned by these religious institutions. Law Minister Nitin Naveen announced on Thursday that district authorities have been instructed to prioritize the registration of all non-registered temples, monasteries, and trusts.

The directive comes as part of the Bihar government's efforts to enforce the Bihar Hindu Religious Trust Act, 1950, which mandates the registration of all public temples, monasteries, trusts, and dharamshalas under the Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts (BSBRT). The initiative is intended to protect the properties of these institutions from illegal sale or purchase.

Law Minister Nitin Naveen has recently sent a letter to all District Magistrates (DMs) urging them to expedite the registration process and ensure that details of immovable properties belonging to registered institutions are promptly submitted to the BSBRT. This data will be uploaded to the BSBRT website for public access and transparency.

As per the latest data from the law department of the Bihar government, the state has around 2,499 registered temples, collectively owning over 18,456 acres of land. However, there are still approximately 2,512 unregistered temples and monasteries, which together own 4,321.64 acres of land. The districts with the highest numbers of unregistered institutions include Vaishali (438), Kaimur (307), West Champaran (273), Bhagalpur (191), Begusarai (185), Saran (154), and Gaya (152).

In particular, the Kaimur district has 307 unregistered temples and monasteries owning about 813 acres of land, while the Khagaria district's 100 unregistered institutions control 722 acres. In Banka district, 78 unregistered temples and monasteries own approximately 332 acres of land.