The Chinese virus has brought the world to a standstill impacting lives and livelihoods across. Though the nationwide lockdown has been on the ease for the past few weeks, a section of the population is still struggling to return to normalcy and make a living.
It is known fact that temple priests employed by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department suffer from insufficient income even on ordinary days. With temples remaining closed for the last four months, the temple staff who lift the deity, known as Sri Padam, are in distress. In light of this, they have written to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu seeking his intervention and placed 10 demands that includes the reopening of temples.
In the letter, they mentioned that the deity lifting staffs in temples across Tamil Nadu have been hit hard by the corona virus lockdown and that their families are on the grip of hunger. They have stated that they make only ₹800 per day with the temple only working for 10 days, which they use for getting essentials. They said that they have been involved in this work for generations but have seen no improvement in their living standards. They alleged that the temple management only call them when their services are required for the deity’s procession but have washed them off when they are in distress. They have asked the government to consider their plight and make their jobs permanent and salaried in nature and have also asked for an ID card as a mark of employment. Appealing to the Chief Minister for his help, they said that their work has been to bring the deity to the doorsteps of the public so that they can worship.
It is said that around 6000 families are in Chennai alone dependent on temples for their livelihood. There are around 20,000 such families across Tamil Nadu, it stated.
“We request the Government of Tamil Nadu and the HR&CE Department to consider these requests expeditiously, taking into account the situation of all the families who depend on the temple for their livelihood.”, the letter read.