The Kerala government is of the view that the ‘Kazhakam’ staff member (garland making and associated works) appointed at the Sree Koodalmanikyam temple as per Devaswom rules should be allowed to work in the same post at the temple, Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan informed the Assembly on Monday.
The Minister clarified the government’s stance on the issue while responding to a query during the discussion on demand for grants in the Assembly.
Excluding a staff member from discharging his duty on the basis of his caste was an insult to the State where renaissance movements had made great strides. The State could not accept the removal of a person from temple duties citing objection from priests. Kerala was a place where non-Brahmins were appointed as priests. Therefore, the person appointed to that post would do the work prescribed there, the Minister clarified.
He rued that the discrimination took place at a time when Kerala was celebrating the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to the Vaikom Satyagraha venue of 1924 to 1925. The satyagraha was held in protest against a ban on people from backward communities using the roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple in Kottayam. The Kerala society should adopt a progressive stance in matters like this, the Minister said.
Published - March 10, 2025 09:16 pm IST
