Thread by @indiccollective

1.The Petition filed by our Trustee @ShreehariK before Karnataka HC was listed today before the bench comprising Hon. Chief Justice Abhay Srinivas Oka & Justice Natraj Rangaswamy. In d last hearing, HC had directed the Govt to expedite d pymt of Rs.12,000 tasdik pymt to Archakas.

2. Today d Govt informed Court that of Rs.37 crores released [subsequent to filing of our petition], only Rs.13 crores has been t/f to Temple A/cs and balance is in process. @ShreehariK submitted that despite Court following up every week, d Govt is taking too long to send money.

3. @ShreehariK further submitted that merely because temples are opened, a conclusion cannot be drawn that Archakas begin to earn income. An affidavit was filed in this regard. It was submitted that in rural areas there is little footfall in temples even on regular days.

4. That now as a result of Corona, people are refraining from visiting temples. Further, d Govt has prohibited performance of Sevas, therefore d source of income is completely curtailed & hence some form of assistance is necessary.

5. @ShreehariK submitted that Govt had announced the supply of free ration kits to all Archakas vide its order dated 20/04/2020 but not even half Archakas have received it & entire northern Karnataka has been deprived of it.

6. On the earlier hearing, it was observed by the Chief Justice that d Court cannot assume that all Archakas are dependent on Archaka as a sole income source and that they may have other vocation also. @ShreehariK disputed the same, and an affidavit has been filed in support

7. It has been submitted that Archakas r engaged in religious service from morning 7 till 1pm & evening 5pm to 8pm & there is no time left for pursuing other vocation. Further, Archakas r ineligible 4 pursuing Pourohitya as per Shastras. Thus there is no scope for other vocation

8. The Chief Justice asked the Govt why it can't provide monetary relief to Archakas if it can help the Advocates? [Govt has contributed Rs.5crores to Advocate relief fund].
See report of Prajavani newspaper dated 25/06/2020

9. The Chief Justice further directed the Govt to supply ration kits to all Archakas to help them sustain themselves during corona pandemic, as the Archakas are in bad condition.
Image: Report in Vijaya Karnataka dated 25/06/2020

10. While directing that amounts be disbursed to all the temples at the earliest, the matter has been adjourned to 07/07/2020.

11. Consider helping temple priests, HC tells govt deccanherald.com/city/consider-… @deccanherald

12. Consider giving one-time free ration to needy priests, servants of ‘C’ category temples: HC
thehindu.com/news/national/…