Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap on Tuesday chaired a meeting regarding the development of a website for five major temple trusts in Shimla district and directed the officials concerned to complete the pending work within a week. The district administration wanted to launch the website this month, he added.

Kashyap said that the website of the temple trusts would prove to be an important step towards providing transparent, simple and accessible services to devotees. “On the website, the devotees will be able to obtain essential information on the temple’s history, religious significance, worship times, information about major festivals, online donations, bookings for aarti and special pujas and more, all on a single platform,” he added.

The Deputy Commissioner also announced that advertisements for filling vacant positions in the five temple trusts would be issued the same day. “Temple officials should complete all formalities this week,” he added. He directed the officials concerned and the technical team to ensure that the website was designed to be user-friendly and that all necessary information was available in both Hindi and English. He also issued directions that special attention be paid to cybersecurity, regular updates and transparency on the website.

Discussions regarding providing the temple trusts with income and expenditure information, contact details, a complaint and suggestion portal for the devotees and updated information on various religious events was also held in detail at the meeting.

“Increased use of digital media will provide the devotees with better services at home and will also increase transparency and efficiency in the work of the temple trusts,” he said.