LUCKNOW, Aug. 14 -- The Yogi Adityanath government on Wednesday tabled the Uttar Pradesh Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust Bill 2025 in the state assembly, replacing the ordinance promulgated on May 26. The bill provides for a trust to manage all funds related to the temple situated in Vrindavan town of Mathura. The legislation is likely to be cleared on Thursday. Minister of state for health Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh read out the bill in the presence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. This bill will give the trust rights over all the offerings and properties of the temple, including movable and immovable properties. Apart from jewellery, it also includes bank drafts and cheques. Besides, the trust will decide the time of temple darshan, appointment of priests and salaries. According to the provisions of the bill, the trust will get the work done for the temple complex and proposed corridor by taking advice from archaeological experts, engineers, architects and reputed institutions. The trust will include 11 nominated and seven ex officio members. Citing objectives of the bill, the government stated, "The temple of Shri Bankey Bihari Ji located in Vrindavan Nagar of Mathura is an ancient temple. A large number of devotees visit here, especially during festivals. The temple is spread across approximately 870 square metres, out of which around 365 square metres is used as a viewing courtyard. Due to the extremely narrow access route to the temple, devotees and visitors face severe inconvenience. The tragic death of two devotees during an incident of overcrowding on August 20, 2022 highlighted the urgent need for efficient crowd management." "To fulfill the above-mentioned objectives, and for the all-round development and proper management of the Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple area, including pilgrimage, religious, cultural, spiritual, and establishment-related aspects and to ensure the temple's development and regulation in an organized manner, it was decided to constitute a trust named - Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust," the bill said. Since the state legislature was not in session and immediate legislative action was necessary to implement the aforesaid decision, the Uttar Pradesh Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust Ordinance, 2025 (UP. Ordinance No. 3 of 2025) was promulgated by the governor on May 26, 2025. The Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust, the bill said, will be irrevocable and will manage all funds, valuables assets, deposits, jewelleries donations by whatever name called, including but not limited to grants, subscriptions, contributions, hundi collection, daan, chadhawa, nazar, dakshina, offerings, gifts, presents and properties, whether moveable or immoveable, present or in the future vested in the deity and/or the temple or being held in his name and/or for his or the temple's benefit. The Supreme Court on August 8 said the Uttar Pradesh government's Bankey Bihari Temple Trust ordinance that rests administrative control of the iconic religious place with the state, would remain in abeyance till the high court decides the validity of statute. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the Uttar Pradesh Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust Ordinance, 2025 and recall of the May 15 order clearing the state's scheme to develop the Shri Banke Bihari Temple Corridor at Vrindavan in Mathura. The bench said it would modify the May 15 order of the coordinate bench with regard to allowing the use of temple funds for acquiring 5-acre land in the name of the deity for developing it as a holding area for devotees. According to the bill, "The Board of Trustees shall be appointed by the state government. There shall be two kinds of trustees in the Board, namely nominated trustees and ex officio trustees. There shall be 11 nominated trustees, including three eminent persons including seers, saints, gurus, scholars, mathadhishes (heads of monasteries), mahants, acharyas, swamis from the Vaishnav traditions, orders or peethas." Also, it will have three eminent persons, including seers, saints, gurus, scholars, mathadhishes, mahants, acharyas, swamis from other traditions, orders or peethas of the Sanatan Dharma. Besides, there will be three persons of eminence from any walk of life from any branch or order of the Sanatan Dharma. Two members from the officiating Goswamis at the temple. "The ex officio trustees shall not exceed seven (7) but shall include the district magistrate, Mathura, the senior superintendent of police, Mathura; (c) municipal commissioner, Mathura, chief executive officer of the Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad," according to the bill. The trust will ensure world class amenities and facilities for pilgrims, devotees and visitors, including but not limited to provisions for appropriate and designated points for prasad distribution, improvement of access facilities for senior citizens and differently abled, potable water dispensers, resting benches and booths computerized access and queue management kiosks, setting up of Gaushalas, Annakshetras, kitchens, rest and travel houses, hotels and serais....