Maharashtra government appoints senior IAS officers to monitor development plans for five Jyotirlinga sites

As per the directions of Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, the government has appointed five senior IAS officers to monitor and oversee the implementation of development plans for five major Jyotirlinga pilgrimage sites of the state. The move is said to be aimed at ensuring time-bound and high-quality execution of the Jyotirlinga development projects. Each officer will oversee progress and report directly to the Chief Minister’s Office. This is the first time that senior officers have been designated for direct oversight of these places. For Bhimashankar (Pune), Additional Chief Secretary, General Administration Department, V Radha has been chosen, for Grishneshwar (Chhatrapati Sambhaji nagar), Additional Chief Secretary, Higher & Technical Education, B Venugopal Reddy, for Trimbakeshwar (Nashik), Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Saurabh Vijay, for Aundha Nagnath (Hingoli) – Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Richa Bagla and for Parli Vaijnath (Beed) – Secretary, OBC Welfare Department, Appasaheb Dhulaj have been named. The state government has already approved budget for the development of these sites. For Bhimashankar, ₹148.37 crore, for Grishneshwar: ₹156.63 crore, for Trimbakeshwar: ₹275 crore, for Aundha Nagnath: ₹15.21 crore and for Parli Vaijnath: ₹286.68 crore have been allocated. These Jyotirlinga temples are among the twelve most revered shrines in India and abroad too.