New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday urged the BJP to pledge monthly honorarium for priests of temples in its manifesto for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls.
The development comes days after AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said that if re-elected, his party would launch a ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana’ to give a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000 to Hindu temple priests and granthis of gurdwaras.
In a letter to Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, VHP’s Delhi unit secretary Surendra Gupta urged the party to also declare in its poll manifesto monthly honorarium for Arya Samaj’s shastris, Jain Sthanak’s ‘archaks’, ISKCON’s ‘archaks’ and others “who are involved in the worship of God in monasteries, temples or ashrams”.
“VHP’s Delhi unit secretary Surendra Gupta wrote a letter to Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva today and said that the VHP has been demanding to provide honorarium to all the priests and archaks of the temples of Delhi for a long time,” the organisation said in a statement.
Just a few days ago, the Aam Aadmi Party government announced ahead of assembly polls that it will give honorarium to the “archaks and pujaris” every month “as per this much-awaited demand of the VHP”, it added.
“Gupta requested Sachdeva that in the BJP’s manifesto to be released before the elections, a promise should be made to give honorarium every month to pujaris, Arya Samaj’s shastris, Jain Sthanak’s archaks, ISKCON’s archak, etc. who are involved in the worship of God in monasteries, temples or ashrams,” the VHP said.
The VHP has also urged the BJP to fulfil this promise when voted to power in Delhi, the statement said.
“Gupta wrote in his letter that this announcement of the Aam Aadmi Party government is unimportant and incomplete as there is no mention of Arya Samaj’s scholars, ISKCON temple’s priests and Jain Sthanak’s archaks in it,” the statement added. PTI PK KVK KVK
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