New Delhi: The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday urged the Bharatiya Janata Party to pledge a monthly honorarium for priests of temples in its manifesto for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

VHP’s request comes days after the Aam Aadmi Party said that if re-elected, his party would launch a ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana’ to give a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000 to Hindu temple priests and granthis of gurdwaras.

In a letter to Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, VHP’s Delhi unit urged the party to also declare in its poll manifesto monthly honorarium for Arya Samaj’s shastris, Jain Sthanak’s ‘archaks’, ISKCON’s ‘archaks’ and others “who are involved in the worship of God in monasteries, temples or ashrams”.

VHP Asks BJP To Promise Honorarium For Hindu Priests In Delhi

“VHP’s Delhi unit secretary Surendra Gupta wrote a letter to Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva today and said that the VHP has been demanding to provide honorarium to all the priests and archaks of the temples of Delhi for a long time,” the organisation said in a statement.

AAP Announced Honorarium For Delhi Priests

Just a few days ago, the Aam Aadmi Party government announced that it will give an honorarium to the “archaks and pujaris” every month. 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a new welfare scheme ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana.’

 Under this, priests of temples and ‘granthis’ of Gurudwaras will receive a monthly salary of Rs 18,000.

Kejriwal described the priests and granthis as “the custodians of cultural and religious traditions.” He said, “This is happening for the first time in the country. The priest is a class that has carried forward the rituals from generation to generation. They never paid attention to their family, and we never paid attention to them.”