Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that there is no question of reducing salaries of archakas rendering services at government run temples.
Talking to representatives of various archaka groups on Friday, Mr Naidu said that his government is committed to the welfare of archakas and other endowments staff and there was no proposal as such to reduce their salaries.
The CM asked the archakas to be vigilant of some forces intentionally creating doubts and sense of insecurity among them regarding salaries. Naidu reminded that the government had hiked the monthly salary to Rs 10,000. He said there are around 1,458 dharmic staff drawing salary of Rs 10,000 per month. “Temples in the rural areas have income resources that are meagre,” Mr Naidu observed and added that the State Government has been providing Rs 5,000 per month to conduct basic rituals daily. When contacted the former Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao stated that he never mentioned in his letter that Archaka’s salaries are being reduced.
