HYDERABAD: Endowments minister A Indrakaran Reddy said the state government would take steps for improving the living standards of temple priests and employees.  At the Cabinet sub-committee meeting on endowments issues at Secretariat on Thursday, he said the cabinet sub-panel would study the three-member committee report submitted on the increase of their salaries.

Apart from Indrakaran Reddy, Home minister N Narasimha Reddy, Panchayat raj minister Jupally Krishna Rao and animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav attended the meeting.

The panel directed the officials to submit details of temples whose expenditure is below 30 per cent of the temple income and details of temples whose expenditure is above 30 per cent of the income. The officials were also asked to submit details of contract, outsourcing and daily wage employees’ list.
Temple lands

The committee also directed the officials to furnish temple-wise list of lands, so that they would be protected from further encroachments. It also directed the officials to explore ways to get income from temple lands. The sub-committee felt the need for setting up of a legal cell and vigilance cell in the endowments department. It was also decided at the meeting to implement  ‘’Dhoopa Deepa Naivedyam”  scheme in the newly-identified temples.

Amendments
The sub-committee also felt the need to make amendments to the Endowments Act for effective functioning in future.