Patna,(BiharTimes): Acharya Kishore Kunal (66) on Thursday handed over charge to law secretary Sanjay Kumar after the state government accepted his resignation from the post of chairman of Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts.

Though he denied that there was any political pressure behind his resignation and cited personal reason for his decision yet sources said that an issue related to Tilhoutu matth in Rohtas district might
have compelled him to quit.

According to Kunal he desperately wanted to expedite the pending projects of Mahavir Mandir such as construction of Viraat Ramayan Mandir at Kesariya, construction of Ramayan University etc.

He also said he wanted to pursue his academic interests, and is currently engaged in writing book on Ayodhya, where he had served as the Officer on Special Duty during the prime ministership of V P Singh and Chandrashekar.

He has written several books, which included ‘Dalit Devo Bhava’. As Board chairman, he appointed two-dozen Dalit priests at important temples, including the Mahavir Mandir near  Patna railway station.The 1972-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, who took voluntary retirement in 2001, said the Trust Board work was time-taking and many of the projects have been delayed because of busy schedule. Hence he had decided to quit.

Kunal joined as administrator of Board on May 23, 2006, and became its chairman in 2010. He had ushered in several changes in the functioning of the Board and streamlined functioning of trusts affiliated to it.

When he joined the Board, its image had touched its nadir and corruption was rampant. Employees had not been paid for 100 months–– the backlog amounted to Rs 30.5 crore. Thousands of cases were pending with the Patna high court and various other courts.

The Board’s annual income is now over Rs one crore and employees are being paid on the first day of every month. The Board has authority over 4,700 registered temples and mutths across the state.Kunal will continue to work as secretary of the Mahavir Mandir Trust and also plans to supervise construction of temple in Kesaria in East Champaran, being built by the Mahavir Mandir Trust.