Varanasi: In a landmark move, the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust has approved new service rules granting priests and employees the status of state government staff along with a major salary hike.
Under the revised framework, priests who were drawing about Rs 30,000 a month will now see their pay almost triple. This is the first significant improvement in service conditions since 1983, when the state government took over the administration of the temple. Despite being one of the country’s most revered shrines, the service terms of its priests and staff had remained unchanged for more than four decades.
The new rules extend a host of benefits, putting temple workers on par with other categories of government employees in Uttar Pradesh. Officials described the decision as recognition of a long-standing demand for parity and dignity.
Temple administration in India varies from state to state. In most parts of the country, Hindu priests are not treated as government employees. Telangana is an exception, where staff at notified temples under the endowments department receive government pay scales. In Tamil Nadu and several other states, priests are paid from temple income, and petitions seeking government employee status are still pending in courts. The Uttar Pradesh government’s move for Kashi Vishwanath staff is being seen as a significant departure from the national trend.
The decisions were taken at the 108th meeting of the Trust, held at the Commissioner’s office on Thursday evening. Along with the new service rules, the Trust cleared several other proposals aimed at promoting traditional learning and improving facilities for devotees. A Vedic education and training institute will be established on 46 bighas of temple land in Kakrahi, Mirzapur. To ease the movement of pilgrims, buildings will be purchased to create a direct passage between Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the Shakti Peeth Vishalakshi Mata temple. The Trust also approved the development of the Sankat Haran Hanuman temple at Benipur in Sarnath and the modernization of the cowshed located there.
Security at the dham will be strengthened with an upgraded control room and modern surveillance cameras. Alternative arrangements for the distribution of laddu prasad and rudraksha malas have also been sanctioned. The Trust further gave its nod to connect all Jyotirlingas under the Sangam Tirth water exchange project. The long-pending renewal of identity cards for daily visitors will be resumed, while Dandi sanyasis will continue to receive daily prasad, meals and dakshina.
In a parallel meeting of the Kashi Vishwanath Special Area Development Council, approval was given to set up a state-of-the-art digital museum inside the dham premises. The council also decided to allot vacant spaces in the temple emporium to boost commercial activity, revise rental rates for properties, rationalize honorarium for staff categories, and enhance dearness allowance for full-time employees, continuing the hike introduced last year. It also resolved to extend consultancy services by offering its expertise and standard operating procedures to other institutions.
The decisions taken are expected to not only improve the working conditions of priests and staff but also enhance the overall experience of millions of devotees visiting one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines.
