Priests In Telangana On Strike, Want Govt Salaries

Demanding salaries on par with those for government employees, thousands of priests and temple staff in Telangana launched an indefinite strike from Thursday.

All services at temples managed by the endowments department in Telangana came to a halt as the priests and other employees went on the strike.

According to an organization representing the temple employees, 6,000 employees of 2,500 temples in Hyderabad and nine other districts of Telangana are boycotting their duties.

The priests performed 'abhishekham' in the temples early in the morning, and then stopped all other services, causing inconvenience to devotees.

The temple staff also stopped issuing tickets to devotees for various poojas.

People visiting several major temples in Hyderabad and the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district complained of hardships due to the strike.

The striking priests and employees also staged protests in the temple premises.

Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (JAC) convenor Kodandaram participated in the protest meeting at the Chikkadpally Venkateswara Temple and expressed solidarity with the striking employees.

The priests and employees of Yadadri, the most famous temple in Telangana, however, stayed away from the strike.

G Bhanumurthy, one of the leaders of the Joint Action Committee of priests and employees, said they wanted salaries at par with those of government employees.

They also wanted the salaries to be paid through the treasury.

The Telangana government had recently hiked the salaries of its employees by 43%.

The priests claimed that the government of united Andhra Pradesh in 2008 had promised to pay them salaries at par with those of government employees, and accused the government of being indifferent towards their problems. (NSS)