Bengaluru, 13 July 

A face recognition system will be introduced to verify the identity of officials and staff involved in counting temple donations, according to the Karnataka government's new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for temples under the Muzrai Department. Officials and staff will also be required to declare the cash they are carrying before entering the hundi counting area.

The SOP mandates that only home guards, bank staff or government employees be engaged for hundi counting, replacing the earlier practice of using members of the public. The entire process, from opening the hundi until the cash is handed over to the bank, must be video recorded with date and time stamps. Counting will take place under the supervision of the concerned tahsildar.

The government said the measures were prompted by incidents in which CCTV cameras and DVRs installed in temples were stolen, damaged or disabled. In some cases, miscreants reportedly lit camphor to deposit carbon on camera lenses and obstruct visibility. To address this, web-enabled CCTV cameras will be installed, with footage stored on a central server at the Department of Religious Endowments headquarters.

The CCTV network will be linked to the offices of Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and local police stations, with dashboards provided in police control rooms for continuous monitoring.

To encourage cashless donations and reduce pickpocketing in crowded temples, QR codes will be installed only near hundis and integrated with temple accounting systems. The displays will also include bank details such as the IFSC code to ensure transparency and a proper audit trail.

The SOP requires advance scheduling of hundi counting to ensure the presence of Revenue Department officials. Temples with heavy donations will conduct weekly counting, while others will do so every fortnight. Gold, silver and other valuables must be valued and deposited in the district treasury or sub-treasury on the same day.

Temple officials and taluk-level officers will be held accountable for thefts. Monthly district review meetings, fortnightly inspections and quarterly joint inspections of Category A and B temples have also been mandated, with Deputy Commissioners required to submit monthly compliance reports to the government.