VIJAYAWADA: The Nayee Brahmins (barbers), who were on a warpath, have made alternative arrangements in various temples across the State on Saturday to avoid any inconvenience to devotees. The JAC has allowed five barbers in each temple across the State on the second day of the strike after knowing the inconvenience being faced by the devotees to offer their hair as fulfilment of vow. The temple barbers under the banner of AP Endowments Nayee Brahmins Joint Action Committee (JAC) have launched an indefinite strike on Friday demanding that the State government provide them a minimum salary of `15,000 a month and other benefits such as ESI and Provident Fund (PF). Tension prevailed for a while in Simhachalam Devasthanam on Saturday after the temple authorities roped in private barbers to perform tonsuring of the devotees.
The action of the officials irked the temple barbers. Heated arguments were exchanged between the officials and the temple barbers. Intervening in the matter, Simhachalam temple Executive Officer K Ramachandra Mohan explained that as the barbers went on strike without giving any notice, he was forced to hire private barbers.
He said it was not fair to obstruct the private barbers from discharging their duties. Extending solidarity to the JAC, the Nayee Brahmins working at the tonsure hall of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) attended to their duties wearing black badges. In Srisailam and Dwaraka Tirumala, temple barbers attended to their duties to avoid inconvenience to the devotees. Speaking to TNIE, AP Endowments Nayee Brahmins JAC president G Ramadas said that around 800 barbers working in 70 temples in various parts of the State participated in the strike on the second day. “We will reveal our future course of action after holding talks with Deputy Chief Minister and Endowments Minister KE Krishna Murthy at the Interim Government Complex on Monday. If our demands were not addressed, we will intensify our stir by preventing all the Nayee Brahmins from opening their salons across the State,” he added.