Uttar Pradesh government to increase pay and perks of Kashi Vishwanath Temple employees in the lead-up to legislative elections

The priests and other employees of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi have made demands for pay and other perks that are comparable to those of state employees. The Uttar Pradesh government has chosen to comply with these demands in the lead-up to legislative elections.

The president of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Nyas Parishad, Nagendra Pandey, told reporters in Varanasi on Sunday that a 16-member committee the government established to recommend welfare measures for the devotees of the Hindu shrine recommended that their pay be on par with that of an intermediate high school teacher in the state (roughly Rs. 47,600-1,51,100 per month).

He stated that all other employees, including part-time priests and caregivers, "should also be regularized and given a higher salary than what the temple trust currently gives them as honorarium."

According to a source in the state government, a priest currently receives an honorarium of about Rs 60,000 per month. The monthly pay for the other staff ranges from Rs 25,000 to Rs 47,000. About 150 people work there, and donations from followers are the temple's main source of income.

Through its district-level officers, the state government has jurisdiction over the temple trust.

New interviews would be held, according to Pandey, to regularize the part-time employees. Along with the senior trust members, the interview panel would also include some outsiders, such as Sanskrit and Vedic professors. The committee also resolved to provide the temple employees with health coverage and other employment-related benefits.

A trust member named Brajbhushan Ojha stated, "We have prepared the new service rule as per the recommendation and sent it to the government for final approval."

On October 13, 1983, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act gave the state government control over the temple's management.

According to observers, the venerated temple is also a political symbol that the Yogi Adityanath and Narendra Modi administrations hope to capitalize on before the general elections.

Despite claims that the state and the Center had instructed the authorities to break several minor temples around the Kashi Vishwanath shrine to extend and beautify the area, the Prime Minister had inaugurated the refurbished and expanded temple in December 2021 before the 2022 Assembly elections.

The Yogi Adityanath administration later acknowledged that they had purchased 288 properties between the Ganga and the shrine, including 24 structures with idols of gods and goddesses and places where devotees used to frequently offer prayers.