BARIPADA: Servitors of Haribaldev Jew temple on Monday launched a padayatra again to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Bhubaneswar over their demands for development of the shrine. As many as 100 servitors took out the march from the temple premises at 8.30 am. They collected donations from the people and vendors of the town on Sunday to fund their march.
Last week, they had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through Mayurbhanj Collector Vineet Bhardwaj seeking his appointment over the matter. In June, the servitors had started the 250-km-long padayatra but they cancelled it midway after an assurance from Revenue Minister Sudam Marandi that their demands would be examined by June 30.
The Minister also faced severe criticism for calling himself ‘God’ and equating the Chief Minister with Lord Jagannath at a meeting with the servitors. On June 25, a delegation of servitors led by the Minister met the Chief Minister at Naveen Niwas over the demands. Naveen had asked Law Minister Pratap Jena to resolve the issues. As no step was taken till date, they launched the march again.
They said the temple, known as Dwitiya Srikhetra, has always been neglected by the Endowment Department. Due to poor budget allocation, it makes difficult to meet the daily needs of the Trinity. Despite several requests, remuneration of servitors is yet to be revised, said senior servitor Arun Kumar Mishra and demanded funds from the Tourism department for all-round development and maintenance of the temple.