Archakas await SC order, suspect state govt move

Archakas await SC order, suspect state govt move

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Chennai: A year ago, when TOI reported the story of 207 non-Brahmin archakas (priests) who passed out of the six archaka training centres across the state struggling to find jobs in temples managed by the government, the situation was bad. 

    With the government doing little to come to their rescue, the archakas’ situation is now worse. 
    The trained priests were running from pillar to post to fight a case filed against the government ordinance allowing non-Brahmins to be trained in priesthood and hired by government-managed temples. 
    The ordinance, promulgated in 2006 when M Karunanidhi was the chief minister, was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal Nala Sangam and the Thennindia Thirukkoil Archagargal Paripalana Sabhai. 

    Thestate governmenthad asked for six months to settle the issue. The court granted the government time. 
    But as the case comes before the court on Tuesday for final hearing, members of the Archagar Pairchi Petra Mannavargal Sangam, an organisation of trained archakas, suspect that the government will try to mislead the issue in the court. 

    “Even though the SC has given six months to settle the issue, the government has not conducted any meeting with us. We are suspicious of the government’s plans. We don’t know what the government is going to do with the 2006 ordinance. We will fight the case,” said APPMS president V Renganathan on Monday. 
    S Raju, advocate and state coordinator of the Human Right Protection Centre, an organisation that helps trained archakas to conduct the case in the Supreme Court, said it is the constitutional rightof archakasto get jobs in government-owned temples. 

    “If the government tries to mislead the court, we will not keep quiet. We don’t need any concession from the state. We have already lost a number of years. It’s a fight against caste supremacy and we won’t give up,” he said. 

    Ranganathan said the APPMS would soon meet and discuss the future course of action. “The government is nottaking any positivestep to solve the issue. We are waiting for the judgment,” he said.
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