Sun Mar 02 12:33:59 UTC 2025: ## Karnataka Government to Directly Pay Salaries of Temple Employees
**Bengaluru, March 2, 2025** – The Karnataka government announced a significant change in the payment of salaries for employees at state temples. Effective immediately, the government will directly pay the salaries of all government-appointed staff in notified temples, ending a practice where these salaries were drawn from temple funds.
This move, according to Transport and Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy, addresses salary disparities and revenue losses for temples. He stated that paying employees from temple funds resulted in unfair compensation and reduced temple income. The change will save Category A and B temples an estimated ₹2-3 crore monthly.
The decision fulfills a long-standing demand from the Karnataka State Muzrai Temples Archakas, Agamikas and Employees Association. Association president Srivatsa highlighted that the practice violated legal provisions and led to the misuse of crores of rupees over the years. A petition submitted in 2020 finally resulted in the Finance Department’s approval to pay salaries and allowances for 131 officers and employees from the state’s consolidated fund.
While the order benefits employees in the 205 ‘A’ and 195 ‘B’ category temples, it doesn’t affect the 34,151 ‘C’ category temples, as they do not employ government-appointed staff.
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