KCR opens Brahmin Sadan; hikes pandits’ honorarium, reduces eligibility age
KCR has announced the enhancement of the monthly honorarium of veda and sastra pandits from Rs 2,500 to Rs.5,000 and reduced the eligibility age for beneficiaries of the scheme
- Telangana
NewsTAP Bureau- Updated On:31 May 2023 1:15 PM GMT
HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has announced the enhancement of the monthly honorarium of veda and sastra pandits from Rs 2,500 to Rs.5,000 and reduced the eligibility age for beneficiaries of the scheme from 75 to 65 years. He made this announcement after inaugurating the ‘Viprahitha Brahmin Sadan’, a community building, at Gopanpally on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
He declared that the assistance provided to 3,645 temples under the ‘Dhoopa Deepa Naivedhyam’ programme would be further extended to another 2,796 temples taking the total number to 6,441. “Similarly, the monthly payment of Rs 6,000 given to archakas to maintain the temples will be enhanced to Rs 10,000. I hope you will appreciate this announcement,“ the Chief Minister said, amidst cheers.
The Rs 2 lakh assistance for the maintenance of Veda Patashalas, would be converted into a grant and the fee reimbursement scheme for those pursuing education in institutions like IIT and IIM would be extended to Brahmin students also, KCR said. He promised to announce the government’s policy on the long-pending issue of hereditary rights of archakas after discussing the issue in the State Cabinet.
“Telangana is the only state in the country to have an exclusive facility for Brahmins. By establishing this sadan, we have set up a new benchmark in ensuring the welfare of Brahmins, who are dedicated to the common good of all the people,” the Chief Minister asserted. He said that the government had been allocating Rs 100 crores every year to implement various welfare programmes for Brahmins.
The Sadan, spread across nine acres, features a function hall where people from the community can perform marriages and other functions free of cost and an auditorium besides accommodation for the seers.
Meanwhile, CS Rangarajan, the main priest of the Chilkur Balaji temple, and Dr Pradeep Jyothi, President of All India Brahmin Federation, in separate press releases, thanked the Chief Minister for constructing a facility for Brahmins and also for the assurance he gave on the issue of hereditary rights for priests.
