The state government has provided insurance cover for priests and temple staff

Bengaluru : The state government has initiated measures to provide insurance coverage to around 50,000 priests and other employees and their families in the temple.

In a letter to the General Secretary of the Endowments Division on Thursday, a copy of the letter was found in the newspaper, and Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said that the decision to provide relief to the priests and the families of the employees is urgently needed.

The Prime Minister Jeevan Jyoti has directed the department officials to provide insurance cover to the employees of the temples under the Muzarai department under the insurance scheme and the State Bank of India Group’s Personal Accident Insurance Policy. The Central Insurance Scheme provides Rs. Will be compensated.

There are 34,559 temples in the state coming under the Department of Muzarayai, of which 175 are Class-A (with annual income of Rs. 25 lakhs), 163 are Class-B (annual income is Rs. 5-25 lakh) and 34,221 are Class-C (annual income is less than Rs. These are temples, where about 50,000 high priests, Group C and D employees work, but they are not considered government employees. Their salaries are paid by the respective temple trusts.

Until now, temple staff, including priests, had no other benefits, such as health insurance or employee state insurance or future funds. “If we introduce health or ESI cards, families will get medical insurance. We are going to submit this to the Finance Department. We have plans to introduce pensions to priests and others. An official said.

Last year, Priests held a protest in Bengaluru demanding insurance and raising their daily wages to `249. Priests in Class-C temples now pay around Rs 4,000 per month. Giving Wayana.