Shree Jagannath Temple Administration announces help for servitors

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) here on Friday decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 5,000 to each servitor family to overcome the hardships caused by closure of the shrine to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

Nearly 2,200 servitor families comprising around 9,000 members will be provided with the assistance, said Ramachandra Dasmohapatra, member of the Shree Jagannath Temple managing committee.

With the Shree Jagannath shrine in Puri closed for pilgrims for nearly a month, Chief Adminstrator of the SJTA Krishan Kumar said, each sevayat family will get the financial help in view of the unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

The amount will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the sevayats soon, Niti Prasasak (Administrator, Rituals), Jitendra Sahu said.

"The sevayats mostly depend on offerings from devotees for their every day expenses.

"They are passing through a rough patch as the temple is shut. Therefore, the SJTA has made a budget allocation to provide financial assistance to them," he said.

The finance sub-committee of the temple administration which held a meeting through video conference in the last week of March had earmarked Rs 5 crore for welfare of the sevayats, Sahu said.

The temple has been closed for visitors from the third week of March even before the lockdown was imposed as a precautionary measure against the spread of novel coronavirus.

However, the servitors were allowed to perform the rituals inside the 12th century shrine.