MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday stayed an order passed by a single judge of the court directing the state government to pay wages to the staff of Rajagopalaswamy Kulasekara Alwar temple in Ambasamudram as per the principles of the Minimum Wages Act.
The single judge, in his order dated April 5, stated the G.O. issued by the state government in 2019- which says that the salary of temple staff would depend on several parameters, including the income derived by the temple, is inapplicable to the aforementioned temple.
He had further observed that temples are public institutions and by maintaining the customary practices of the temple, the petitioner and the other temple staff discharge public functions. “They have to be paid a proper salary for the work they do. It is unreasonable to tell the temple staff that since their establishment is starved of funds, they have to remain content with the pittance they receive. That would be a clear breach of the constitutional obligations set out in Article 14 r/w Article 43,” the single judge had held.