UK to launch consultation to review the crematorium facilities for Hindus and Sikhs

UK to launch consultation to review the crematorium facilities for Hindus and Sikhs

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Within three months of coming to power in UK, the Conservative party has announced to look into crematorium facilities across the country in answer to the representations from British Hindu and Sikh leaders regarding inadequate facilities in the crematorium. The community leaders had stressed that the crematorium facilities were too small and were not equipped to meet the needs of Hindus and Sikhs.

Taking up the issue on Wednesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced the review in the House of Commons, during the annual budget.

He said: "This is a Budget that delivers for British Hindus and Sikhs: backing business, supporting aspiration, and standing behind families that work hard."

"Over the past year, a number of British Hindus and Sikhs have also raised with me their concerns about cremation facilities for their communities. They've told me that often the facilities are not large enough for everyone from the community to pay their respects and don't always pay enough regard to cultural sensitivities."

"So this Budget announces a review into these facilities. We want to know more about concerns that people from all faiths and none have about these facilities, so we can do more to ensure everybody can mark the passing of their loved ones appropriately. That's why we've launched this consultation and I'd urge everyone to make their views known on this important issue."

The consultation will be launched to record the views of the members of all faiths and then take appropriate action to address their concerns. It will be led by the Department for Communities and the Local Government.

Welcoming this decision, National Council of Hindu Temples (UK) stated: "Never before have the needs of British Hindus and Sikhs been mentioned in any Budget and for many years we were pressing the previous Government to listen to us on this issue which affects members of all Dharmic communities whether Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or Jains, and is an issue we encounter in temples almost every day. This Government has been in office for 3 months and we have had a most welcome breakthrough."

Cremation has been one of the burning issues in UK. It was only in 2010, that open air cremation was allowed for Hindus.

It must be remembered that before the May elections, National Council of Hindu Temples (UK) had released a statement reminding British Hindus how the Conservative party had stood with the community in the Caste legislation issue. It stated: "This is NOT a recommendation for members of the Dharmic communities to vote for a particular Party but it would be unfair not to recognize that the Conservative party is the only principal party which has rejected the process whereby this legislation was forced thru, the Conservative Party is the only party which has consistently listened to us and voted against this legislation and whose members are committed to repealing the Caste amendment if re-elected."

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