Non-Brahmins as priests an important milestone: Balakrishnan

Chennai

“It is an important milestone in the fight for social justice in the state. An act was passed in the state legislature when late Karunanidhi was chief minister in 1970,” Balakrishnan said in a statement.

“The court cases were filed to stop the appointment of non-Brahmins as temple priests even though there was no bar in the agama rules. In such a circumstance, the DMK government has given an appointment order on the 100th day of its rule,” the CPM official added.

He noted that Pinarayi Vijayan led Left Democratic Front government has created precedence across the country by appointing all caste persons as temple priests. He said that the government should expand the scheme of archanais in Tamil to all the temples across the state.

“The government should open archakas training centers to offer not only a certificate course but also graduate courses to appoint priests in all the temples without any caste discrimination,” he said.