Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (DV)

Kundapur, Jun 29: Minister of State for Hindu religious organisations, endowments and backward class welfare and district in-charge Kota Srinivas Poojary informed that since the temples have remained shut due to the pandemic, it is likely that everything will be resolved after July 5.

He was speaking to media persons after holding a special meeting with officials in Kodi Kanyana here on Tuesday, June 29.

It is being discussed on how the devotees can be allowed into the temples, how rituals and other programmes should be organised, Kota said.

The people who are involved in 'Daivaradhane' have been included in the lists of artistes. But, the Yakshagana artistes have not been included in any of the lists. After holding a meeting, a proper decision will be taken.

In Karnataka, there are as many as 2,400 hostels for backward classes, which house 1,92,000 students. We have also discussed how many people can be accommodated in these hostels including taluk level officials, hostel supervisors and cooks. In some places, cooks in the hostel are working on a contract basis. When the number of supervisors is few, the charge of two hostels will be given to a single supervisor, he informed.

The cooks hired on a contract basis have not been paid during the pandemic. This issue will be resolved after discussing it with the finance department, the minister said.