Plans by the government to expand provisions around crematoria to meet long-standing demands of British Hindus and other communities have been welcomed.

Earlier this month the Government UK's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)issued the response to the Crematoria Provision and Facilities consultation.

As a result of this response and the consultation which had been carried out earlier in 2016, the Ministry has presented a series of measures designed to meet the needs of users of crematoria.

This has been a pressing issue for the Hindu community in the UK for a long time and the review states that the majority of the users were Hindus with 28.1% concentrated mainly in North West Boroughs of London and in Leicester.

In 2015, the President of the Hindu Forum Britain, Mrs Trupti Patel had said, ‘We at the HFB have been campaigning for culturally sensitive crematorium facilities for many years.

“It is indeed good news that the present Conservative Government has recognised this very important issue and will be conducting a major consultation exercise that we hope will result in meeting the needs of our community’.

“She stated that the Forum has been at the forefront of this issue for more than a decade, demanding from the Government specific measures to meet the needs of the Hindu community who have rituals and ceremonies performed pre and post mortem which are very important for the departed and the families of the departed. When these are not carried out according to religious and cultural norms can create distress to family and friends of the departed.

“This is the time when large numbers of family, relatives and friends of the family come to attend the final rites and the crematoria are not adequate for all mourners to be accommodated, sometimes having to stand outside the main hall.