Temple EOs careless, many don’t follow quota rosters and are partial against SC/ST employees: NCST member

Temple management executive officers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha face allegations of discrimination against SC and ST employees.

Across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha, temple management executive officers are working carelessly, many don’t even implement the reservation rosters, and there is partiality against SC and ST employees in service matters, promotions, said National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Member Jatothu Hussain Nayak, who took charge in March this year and began working extensively in States south of the Vindhyas just after the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

In an exclusive interaction over the phone with The Hindu this week, Mr. Nayak, a BJP politician from Telangana, spoke of the significance of having a Member of the Commission from a southern State, his experience of reviewing temple management boards during official visits, and a focus on raising awareness about the Commission’s work, which he said had led to increased complaints now being filed with the NCST.

Mr. Nayak said he had conducted reviews of two States, about 26 PSUs, and 48 districts across the country in his time with the Commission so far. “In States I have visited such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala, the most common complaint poor people from ST communities have had is with regard to forest pattas and land issues, followed by service matters,” Mr. Nayak said.  

But in his visits, Mr. Nayak has given special attention to checking whether temple managements across these States are following mandated rules on reservation and addressing complaints of ST employees working at various posts within the management structure. He has already led reviews of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), Sree Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Devasthanam in Bhadrachalam, Srisaila Devasthanam, and the Puri Jagannath Temple.

“In so many temples, they are not using rosters at all. Bhadrachalam predominantly has ST population and it is located in the jungles. They have no regard for reservation. In Srisailam too, this is the case. This is also in the jungle area. There should be more right for STs of the area for their development. In Tirupati, the situation is very bad,” Mr. Nayak said.

Referring to the situation at TTD, Mr. Nayak said that the NCST was informed about a host of issues relating to the welfare of SCs and STs there during a review in August this year. Among the list of complaints were demands to allow SCs and STs to be considered for religious posts in the temples, adequately inform SCs and STs about stipend scheme of the TTD for those studying the Vedas, lack of reservation in shop and hawker license allotments, and a near absence of a grievance redressal mechanism for SC/ST staffers.  

“When we took stock of the issues and called the EO to explain what is happening, they kept evading and then went to the High Court to get a stay order. We will fight it tooth and nail in the court. How can the court stay proceedings of a Commission, which is itself exercising its Constitutional powers as a Civil court?” Mr. Nayak said, adding, all temples he has reviewed have had similar issues.