From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Oct 1: After the revolutionary initiative of senior Congress leader and former Union Minister B Janardhana Poojary in appointing two widows from the Scheduled Caste community as priests in the Shree Gokarnatheshwara Kshethra temple at Kudroli in Mangalore, the State Government is planning to recruit youth from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes community to serve as priests in temples run by the Muzrai Department in Karnataka.

Karnataka’s Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya, who himself belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, warmly applauded the revolutionary step initiated by Poojary in appointing SC widows as priests in the 102-year-old Kudroli temple of the Billava community.

``We will provide training in Vedas, rituals and Sanskrit language to interested SC/ST youth who are willing to forward to become priests,” Anjaneya declared.

After the training, he said the Muzrai Department will post SC/ST priests in temples which are generating a lot of revenue.

A large number of temples have been facing severe financial difficulties due to negligible support from the Government and less number of devotees visiting temples.

Revenue of more than 30,000 temples is below Rs 1 lakh per year.

Congress leader Poojary, who is a patron of the temple, said SC women inducted as priests in line with the philosophy of temple-founder Narayana Guru, who espoused a caste-free society.

Anjaneya said recruitment of SC/ST men and women as priests would help to eliminate caste barriers in the society.

A meeting with the Muzrai Department would be held to find out number vacancies of priests existed in temples, the minister said.