CHENNAI,INDIA, December 20, 2015 (The Deccan Chronicle): Students who had undergone archakas training course in 2007 had planned a celebration near Periyar Statue on Anna Salai on Wednesday afternoon expecting a favorable order from the Supreme Court striking down the petition challenging appointment of trained and qualified people from all castes as temple priests. But they cancelled the event after the apex court issued an order disappointing them. “Our wait for seven years ended in a big disappointment. The Supreme Court rather than ending the caste-based discrimination in the appointment of temple priests has supported the age old custom,” V. Ranganathan, president of Tamil Nadu Government Trained Archakar Students Association, said. The apex court by upholding the importance of denomination for appointment of priests in agama-based temples has indirectly closed the doors on non-brahmins to become priests, he said adding all the appointments made under the Government Order would be challenged in the local courts.
The then DMK government [HPI note: a far-left, anti-brahmin party] issued a GO on May 2006 declaring that suitably trained and qualified Hindus, without “discrimination of caste, creed, custom or usage” were to be appointed as archakas in any of the 36,000 HR and CE administered temples. Ranganathan was one among the 206 students who underwent training in the six training institutes set up by DMK government in 2007. Among the 206 students, 34 were Dalits and 55 belonged to the Most Backward. Community. Only a small number had managed to become priests in private temples while others were working as as loadmen, some in restaurants, some as car drivers and many others do assorted jobs. Interestingly, three persons belonging to brahmin community who underwent training were appointed in HR and CE run temples.
T. Marichamy, who underwent priest training in Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple, said he joined the course after seeing advertisements inviting applications for the free course with a monthly stipend of US$7.54 and a job at a government- administered temple after completing it. “We were very confident of the SC giving an order in our favor as discrimination of people based on caste is against the Constitution,” he said.