It took more than one-and-half years for the State government to make a step towards issuing the final notification with regard to the service rules for the hereditary archakas. The Endowments department has decided to convene a meeting with the archakas on the issue on December 4 and 5, as per sources.
A Committee chaired by retired IAS officer S. Balasubrahmanyam would meet them and recommend a way forward to prepare the final notification and formulating guidelines on the continuation of the hereditary rights.
The government issued a preliminary notification in February 2017 titled ‘The Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Hereditary Archakas Qualifications and Emoluments Rules 2017. But “hardly anything moved in a positive direction” thereafter. The archaka associations welcomed the notification and none raised objections except retired officials. The issue was put on the backburner all these months though the A P Archaka Samakhya had made a representation. The government constituted the Committee in October, sources say.
The Committee would meet the archaka representatives of zone-II on December 4 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon; representatives of zone-I from 12 noon to 2 p.m.; zone-III from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m; and on December 5, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon the archakas from zone-IV, official sources say.
However, Samakhya organising secretary Peddinti Rambabu says, “The archakas have objections to the preliminary notification. They are waiting for the government to issue the final notification.”
Nearly two decades after the apex court judgment to frame the service rules and conditions, the government issued the preliminary notification in 2017. It is expected that the measure will help preserve the traditional Hindu Temple System, especially in small villages. The rules will be applicable to hereditary archakas of all Charitable and Religious Institutions other than the the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), who are recognised as hereditary archakas as per the provisions of Act No.17/1966 and are continuing in religious service of any kind.
The government also proposed the ‘Hereditary Archaka Scheme’ for those institutions where the system was recognised. It had also decided to categorise the hereditary archakas as Pradhana Archaka and archaka. However, only archaka category is applicable to 6(c) institutions.
According to information, there are 141 temples classified as 6(a) institutions whose annual income is ₹25 lakh and above and 784 temples classified as 6(b) institutions whose annual income is between ₹2 lakh and ₹25 lakh in the State.