Hike for Hindu priests in Pakistan

AMRITSAR: For the first time since the Partition, the Pakistan government has decided to encourage pujaris (Hindu priests) to take care of temples and for performing rituals in the Hindu worship places. "We are holding a meeting on September 9 with single agenda of promoting Hindu priests' salary from grade 5 to 9," said Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) chairman Siddiqul Farooq while talking to TOI over phone from Lahore on Tuesday.
ETPB, a Pakistan government's body entrusted with the management of Hindu and Sikh religious properties post the Partition, has eight pujaris on its rolls as against over a 20 Sikh granthis for gurdwaras in the country.
He said with the enhancement in grade, each pujari would have a hike of around Pakistani Rs 10,000, which according to Farooq, would be one of the most desired enhancements in pay package for Hindu priests.
Sources informed TOI that barring a few temples in Pakistan, majority of the historical Hindu shrines were in dilapidated state, their properties had been encroached upon and many were lying locked without any religious service both due to neglect by the government and also due to fear of Muslim fundamentalists.
Farooq further informed that ETPB had also undertaken renovation of Krishna temple and shamshan ghat (cremation ground) in Rawalpindi. "An ETPB delegation visited these sites on last Sunday, got the survey done and began the renovation work," he said.
About the Katasraj cluster of temples in Chakwal district of Punjab in Pakistan, the ETPB chairman said they had also decided to bottle the holy water of Amrit Kund at Katasraj and export it along with holy water from Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Punja Sahib.
"We are setting up a water treatment plant at Katasraj and will bottle the holy water on the lines of Abe Zamzam (holy water from the well of Zamzam located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca) and export the same to devotees in other countries," he said.