Kejriwal announces Rs 18,000 monthly honorarium scheme for pandits, pujaris
New Delhi: Amid a major row over a scheme that promises a monthly stipend to women, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced a new scheme that offers a monthly honorarium of Rs 18,000 to all pandits and pujaris working in temples and to granthis in gurdwaras across the city. The former chief minister said the scheme’s registration process will be launched at the Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place on Tuesday.
Mr Kejriwal, however, did not mention if the scheme would cover priests in churches. The city government already has a scheme for imams under which they are provided a monthly aid of Rs 18,000. As the AAP chief announced the latest scheme, imams under the Waqf Board held a protest outside his residence demanding the release of their salaries.
All India Imam Association chairman Sajid Rashidi said: “It has been 17 months since the government released salaries. We have reminded the government, met the chief minister, lieutenant-governor and other officers to release the payment… If they don’t release our salaries now, we will sit on an indefinite protest.”
Mr Kejriwal’s latest announcement comes ahead of the high-stakes Assembly polls in Delhi which are due to be held in February 2025. The AAP, which is seeking to retain power for the fourth consecutive term, has so far announced several welfare schemes targeting specific categories of voters, including women, Dalits and senior citizens. It has also promised 24×7 water supply in the city. Through the latest scheme, the party is trying to target Pandits and Sikh voters who account for about 20 per cent of the electorate.
Calling it another trick, BJP leader Parvesh Verma posted on X, saying: “I have been saying for years that temple priests and granthis of all gurdwaras should be given salaries. But for the last 10 years, Kejriwal has been paying salaries to the maulvis and their associates of all the mosques in Delhi. Now as elections are approaching, he started remembering priests and granthis.”
Announcing his latest scheme for priests and granthis, Mr Kejriwal said: “These are people who have been serving God for generations and they have been taking forward our culture, tradition and rituals for decades. They work at the temple and pray for us. They never think about themselves or their family, they just devote themselves to God and work to keep our traditions and culture alive. So, I will not call this amount a salary but it is our respect towards them.”
Mr Kejriwal said the AAP is the first party in the country to announce such schemes for pandits and granthis. “No party in the country has brought such a scheme yet…I will launch this scheme from CP’s auspicious Hanuman Temple. I will do the registration of all the pandits in the temple. Later, our MLAs will take this forward in all 70 constituencies.”
Accusing the BJP of trying to stop the registration for their other schemes, Mr Kejriwal requested the party not to do so when it comes to pandits and granthis. “The BJP’s people tried to stop the registration for other schemes such as Mahila Samman Rashi and Sanjeevani Yojana through the police and other means. I hope they don’t interfere in this because this is a scheme for priests who are considered a bridge between humans and God. It would be a big sin to do so. They (BJP) have already sinned a lot, but don’t try to stop such an auspicious scheme,” he said.
Delhi chief minister Atishi, who was also present during the announcement of the scheme, also lauded the initiative.
Earlier this month, Mr Kejriwal announced the Mahila Samman scheme which offered a stipend of Rs 2,100 per month to non-income tax-paying women in the city. The AAP leaders started a registration drive for the scheme. However, the next day, the government’s women and child development department advertised that the “Mahila Samman” scheme was “non-existent” and urged residents not to share personal data.
The AAP later claimed the officers involved in the fiasco were under BJP pressure. The party also vowed action against them. The BJP, on the other hand, alleged fraud and claimed that the AAP and the Delhi government weren’t on the same page.
Delhi lieutenant-governor V.K. Saxena later ordered an inquiry against private persons allegedly collecting personal details of women in the name of enrolling them for the proposed scheme of the ruling AAP in Delhi. Mr Saxena ordered the inquiry based on a complaint by Congress leader and party’s New Delhi Assembly seat candidate Sandeep Dikshit. The Delhi police has formed multiple teams to identify camps which are allegedly gathering personal details of women in the name of Mahila Samman Yojana.
