Karnataka : Karnataka to take a leaf out of Kerala’s book on Dalit Priests
Karnataka recently has decided to take a leaf out of its neighbour Kerala’s book in appointing Dalit priests in temples. A batch of candidates from the community have enrolled at the Agama Shalas run by the Muzrai department, which will certify temple priests and, if they clear the course, they will serve as priests at temples coming under the department.
Around 38 Agama Shalas have been set up across the state and applicants aged between 18 and 40 can enroll for the five-year Agama Shastra course. Candidates will have to clear the Pravara, Praveena and Vidhwath modules before they finish the course.
While applications from Dalit candidates have been allowed for some time now, there were no applications for the first few years, officials said, reported Indian Express.
“All these years, mostly members of the Brahmin community as well as others would enroll. Maybe it was the initial hesitation or societal pressure. However, we now have a few students who are studying the course,” a senior official from the Muzrai department, quoted the Indian Express.The state government has repeatedly said that it welcomes people of all castes to work as priests in temples.
The Muzrai department, which manages over 34,000 temples, has around 1.2 lakh priests working there. Unlike other government departments, there is no call for recruitment here. “Vacancies are created due to death of a priest or due to old age. There is no reservation for applicants from the SC/ST/OBC communities as there were no applicants all these years. In some temples, the post of the priest is held by a single family but now we are seeing that younger people are unwilling to take up the job. This also creates vacancies. The basic qualification for being a priest is the Agama Shastra certification,” said the official.
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Parish Community Day was celebrated at St Vincent Ferrer Church, Mysuru
Parish Community Day was celebrated at St Vincent Ferrer Church, Valencia Mysuru on Sunday December 3. A Eucharistic celebration was held at 4 pm. Fr J B Crasta, vicar forane of the Episcopal City Deanery and rector of Rosario Cathedral Church was the main celebrant. Fr Naveen Pinto, assistant parish priest of Valencia Church preached the homily. A cultural programme was held on the church grounds.
Fr James D’Souza was the president of the programme. Chief guests for the programme were Mangalore south assembly MLA J R Lobo and chief whip of Karnataka government MLC Ivan D’Souza. Speaking on the occasion J R Lobo said, “There is a greater responsibility on us to make our community strong. We need to get into government jobs so that peace, justice and truth may prevail and that we become a model for others, reported Daijjiworld. Ivan D’Souza opined that our participation in the public sector is very less and that we need to pay more attention to this for the community to be made vibrant.
The programme began with a welcome dance by Anusha D’Souza and Amulya D’Souza. Anil Lobo vice-president of the Parish Pastoral Council welcomed the gathering. Winners of various competitions were awarded on the occasion. During the function Sr Doreen, Godwin D’Souza, Cyril Sequeira (CGS Taccode), Neena Rodrigues, Sr Olinda Pereira, Dolphy Saldanha, MLC Ivan D’Souza were felicitated for their achievements in various fields. Parish council secretary Lizzie pinto proposed the vote of thanks. Dinner was served to all those present. Food was specially prepared by the parishioners for the event. The programme ended with a Baila for Konkani and Hindi music played by DJ Valen. Around 1500 parishioners witnessed the special programme.
Tamil Nadu : Houses for the impoverished to come up on temple lands
Recently the State government of Tamil Nadu has decided to unlock the 2.14 acres of leased temple land for the purpose of building affordable homes for the poor as well as developing it for commercial purpose.
It is learnt that Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department will lease 2.14 acres of land belonging to the Arulmigu Thiagarajar Swamy Temple in Tiruvottiyur to the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) for 30 years to develop it.
Sources said the 2.14-acre land would be divided into two and used for residential and commercial purposes. A committee formed by the HR&CE department to fix the rent for both commercial and residential purposes, has drawn up a 19-point charter for leasing out the land to the TNSCB, reported The Hindu.
This is the first time temple lands are being unlocked to provide affordable homes as well as for commercial purposes. Official sources said the land had been divided for commercial and residential uses. A total of 1.17 acre will be given for residential development and the TNSCB has to pay Rs 1.53 lakh as rent a month.
Similarly, 0.97 acres of land will be leased out for commercial purpose and the committee has fixed the rent at Rs 3.8 lakh a month. The commercial land once developed by the TNSCB will be auctioned and 10 per cent of the auction amount or the rent (Rs 3.8 lakh a month), whichever is higher, will be given to the temple trust.
It was also decided that a six-month rent will be paid upfront as advance to the temple. Every three years, the rent will be increased by 15 pc. Even the advance amount has to be increased by 15 pc every three years. The maintenance of buildings and land will be taken care of by the TNSCB.
The move comes as the Tamil Nadu government is facing pressure over construction of 8.30 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in urban areas as it doesn’t have enough funds or land to build homes for the houseless.
As per official records, there is a requirement of 1,630 acres of land to build the houses under the Affordable Housing in Partnership in Chennai alone as a majority of the houseless people living in slums are from the city.
Since the government land that can be used for constructing houses in Chennai is negligible, it is learnt that the State government is identifying surplus land with various departments so that it can be transferred to the TNSCB to construct homes for the houseless.
Even the TN Housing Board facing land crunch is seeking amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Compensation, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Act, 2017 after the rules have been notified by the State government.
Telangana : Waqf Board finding it difficult to submit Property deeds
The High Court has directed the Telangana state Waqf board to digitize the records within six weeks but the board is finding itself in a difficult position as it could not locate title deeds of few properties. These title deeds include Waqfnama (deed of Waqf) and muntakhabs (book of endowment).
The senior officials maintain that there are gazette notifications of these properties but they are not able to find link papers which are considered as title deeds. The unavailability of title deeds has not gone down well because previous two judgments related to Waqf properties were not in favour of the board. One property case is related to a land parcel of approximately 4.5 acres endowed to Masjid-e-Karodgiri in Karwan and another of similar size endowed to the Qutb Shahi Masjid in Attapur.
Chief Executive Officer M. A. Mannan Farooqui said that “It would be inappropriate for me to say anything about the Masjid-e-Karodgiri and the masjid in Attapur as these cases are sub-judice. We are working on the cases again and they are pending hearing.” The board has little clarity on which properties do not have waqfnamahs and muntakhabs.
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Telangana : Priests and Temple Employees to get salaries
For the first time in the State, priests and other employees of temples under the control of the endowments department were paid salaries on 1st December according to prescribed scales.
Endowments Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy handed over a cheque for Rs. 37.50 crore towards the first instalment of the salary bill to Andhra Bank at a function at endowmenets office at Boggulkunta. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Reddy said a new era in the history of temples in the State opened with this. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s assurance to priests and employees that the government would pay them salaries on par with other staff had taken shape. The pay scales were extended to them without a slip-up anywhere.
He said the salary bill for priests and employees was expected to touch Rs. 115 crore per year. The government would release funds for the purpose, factoring in the revenue generated from temples.
The function was attended by Finance Secretary N. Shiva Shankar, Advisor to government (Culture) K.V. Ramanachary and representatives of priests’ associations.
Andhra Pradesh : Underground Power Cables at the Major Temples
The government of Andhra Pradesh has recently decided to lay underground power lines in the major temples in the state. It has been proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL). In all, five districts Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari districts have been selected under APEPDCL limits for installation of underground power cables.
Underground power cables would be laid at Sun God temple at Arasavalli in Srikakulam, Pydithalli temple in Vizianagaram, Simhadri Appanna temple at Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam, Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy temple at Annavaram in East Godavari and Venkateswara Swamy temple at Dwaraka Tirumala in West Godavari districts.
The underground power cables have been proposed with Rs 100 crore at all five temples. The APEPDCL has proposed underground power lines around the temples with the Central government aid as part of beatification of temples and tourist places. “We have prepared a detailed project reports (DPRs) for all five temples in five districts with Rs 100 estimation and sent it to the government for its approval,” Chairman and Managing Director of APEPDCL Hanumanthu Yerrappa Dora, reported in The Hans India.
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