State Govt. to provide insurance cover for archaks, temple staff

State Govt. to provide insurance cover for archaks, temple staff

www.mangaloretoday.com

Mangaluru, July 26, 2020: In a move that will benefit 50,000 people and their families, the state government has initiated steps to provide insurance cover for archaks and other employees working in state-owned temples. In a letter to the Principal Secretary, Endowments Department, on Thursday, Endowments Minister Kota Srinivas Pujari said there is a need to implement the decision at the earliest to provide relief to the priests and families of employees.

Department officials have been directed to include employees at state-owned temples under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyothi Bima scheme and also enrol them under State Bank of India’s group personal accident insurance policy at the earliest. The Central insurance scheme will provide Rs 2 lakh cover to family members in case of death due to accidents.

As many as 34,559 temples come under the ambit of the Muzrai Department, of which 175 are Class-A (with annual revenue of over Rs 25 lakh), 163 are Class-B (annual income between Rs 5-25 lakh) and 34,221 are Class-C (annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh). About 50,000 archaks, pradhan archaks, Group C and D employees work in these temples, but are not considered government employees. Their salaries are paid by the respective temple trusts.

Pension scheme for archaks on cards: Official

A department official said until now, the temple staff, including priests, did not have health insurance or other benefits such as Employees State Insurance or Provident Fund.

“If we introduce health or ESI cards, the families will get medical insurance cover. We will check with the Department of Finance and proceed. We have plans to introduce pensions for archaks and others. The discussions are in the initial stages,” the official said.

Last year, archaks had protested in Bengaluru demanding insurance and increase of their daily wages to Rs 249. Archaks in Class-C temples now get about Rs 4,000 a month.