Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
India

Golden Temple Priests Time Protest With Badals' 'Akhand Path', Get Partial Wage Hike

IANS, 01 Aug, 2017 11:56 AM
    Pathis (priests) working at the Golden Temple today protested against “low wages” in the presence of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who had organised an “akhand path”. 
     
     
    The pathis, supported by colleagues from Gurdwara Shahidan Sahib, Gurdwara Budha Sahib and Gurdwara Baba Bakala, refused to accept fresh “akhand path” bookings till their demands, including a wage hike and facilities on a par with regular employees of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), were accepted.
     
     
    The standoff ended only after their grievance was partially addressed in the evening. The SGPC agreed to raise their shift wage from Rs 600 per session to Rs 800, against the demand for Rs 1,000. They would also be entitled to benefits under the group medical insurance scheme. 
     
     
    The SGPC has engaged around 8,000 pathis on a temporary basis for its gurdwaras across Punjab. Of these, 800 are working at the Golden Temple, 500 at Gurdwara Shahidan Sahib and nearly 150 each at Gurdwara Budha Sahib and Gurdwara Baba Bakala. They are paid on the basis of “path” shifts. 
     
     
    On an average, a pathi ends up getting Rs 9,000 a month. With the raise, each will get Rs 12,000 a month. Earlier, pathis Angrej Singh and Harpal Singh accused the SGPC of adopting double standards when it came to paying wages or offering medical and educational facilities to its employees.
     
     
     
     
    Prior to the poll, the SGPC had given them a raise of just Rs 50 per shift at Sukhbir’s insistence, they said. 
     
     
    “It was a meagre raise. We were forced to protest after the SGPC refused to hear us. A majority of the pathis have been associated with respective gurdwaras for the past three decades, but are not treated on a par with other employees. Neither can our children study in SGPC-run schools or institutes, nor can our families get free medical aid in its hospitals. We had approached successive SGPC presidents, but to no avail,” they said.
     
     
    Harsimrat condemned the protest, saying “it was unbecoming of them to vitiate the spiritual environs by raising slogans”. SGPC’s executive member Ram Singh said: “They could have approached us. But hampering the ‘akhand path’ and raising slogans was uncalled for.” A delegation of the Shiromani Akhand Pathi Welfare Society later met an SGPC panel.
     
     
    As a result of the protest, only 17 of the 41 scheduled “akhand paths” were performed by the evening. The SGPC has on its payroll around 10,000 employees deputed in various gurdwaras and institutes run under its control.
     
     
    A sewadar (messenger) gets between Rs 10,000-15,000 per month, while a secretary-level official gets around Rs 70,000-75,000 per month. Other perks commensurate with those of semi-government institute employees.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    People Shudder To Name Children ‘Gayatri’: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said people these days shuddered to name their children Gayatri, in a dig at rape-accused former minister and SP leader Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, who is in jail.

    People Shudder To Name Children ‘Gayatri’: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

    Irfan Pathan Slammed For Posting 'Unislamic' Photograph Of Wife Safa Baig On Social Media

    Irfan Pathan Slammed For Posting 'Unislamic' Photograph Of Wife Safa Baig On Social Media
    Irfan tied nuptial knots with Safa Baig at Haram Shareef, in the holy city of Mecca in February 2016.

    Irfan Pathan Slammed For Posting 'Unislamic' Photograph Of Wife Safa Baig On Social Media

    Gurdaspur Girls Who Faked Selfie Mishap Return Home

    Gurdaspur Girls Who Faked Selfie Mishap Return Home
    17-year-old Sophia, sister of Lovepreet, spilled the beans during questioning by police, leaving security officials shocked.

    Gurdaspur Girls Who Faked Selfie Mishap Return Home

    36 Years After Indian Airlines Hijacking, 2 Sikh Men Face Trial In Delhi Court

    36 Years After Indian Airlines Hijacking, 2 Sikh Men Face Trial In Delhi Court
    Accused Satnam Singh and Tejinder Pal Singh – who have already served life term in Pakistan in connection with the crime –  appeared before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Jyoti Kler who granted them two-day interim bail

    36 Years After Indian Airlines Hijacking, 2 Sikh Men Face Trial In Delhi Court

    How Can There Be Tax On Religious And Community Service, Asks SGPC

    How Can There Be Tax On Religious And Community Service, Asks SGPC
      SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar says that he is aghast at the "additional tax burden of nearly Rs 10 crore" (Rs 100 million) on the SGPC for running its free and voluntary "sewa" (community service)

    How Can There Be Tax On Religious And Community Service, Asks SGPC

    Smriti Irani Gets Information And Broadcasting Ministry As Venkaiah Naidu Resigns

    Smriti Irani Gets Information And Broadcasting Ministry As Venkaiah Naidu Resigns
    Textile Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday got the additional charge of Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which was held by NDA's vice-president nominee M Venkaiah Naidu.

    Smriti Irani Gets Information And Broadcasting Ministry As Venkaiah Naidu Resigns