Fix salary for Othuvars on par with government staff, says Madras High Court

Madurai: Observing that the Tamil Nadu government was duty-bound to take into consideration the cause of the ‘Othuvars’ (traditional singers in temples) and fix their pay scale on par with other government employees, Justice R. Mahadevan of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department (HR & CE), Chennai, to pass appropriate orders within six weeks on revising pay scale of 'Othuvars' of Sri Ilanjkumarar temple at Tirunelveli.

Justice Mahadevan passed this order on a petition filed by Singaravelan, an 'Othuvar' who sought to direct the authorities to re-fix his salary following two government orders. The petitioner belongs to the traditional ‘Othuvar’ family, who dedicated their services to Lord Shiva and Lord Murugan by chanting of ‘Thirumuraigal’ in temples of Tamil Nadu. Though the petitioner had put in 37 years of service as 'Othuvar', he has neither been regularized, nor given service increments.

“A pathetic case before this court in the form of this writ petition throws light on the fate of the ‘Othuvars’ in the temples of the State of Tamil Nadu and in the considered opinion of the court, due to lack of guidance, the pain being undergone by them, may not come to the outer world,” said the judge who also cited various stone inscriptions from the medieval period of the Cholas, to highlight the prominent role played by them in temples in the past.

“It is not as easy as stated by the commissioner of HR & CE, Chennai, that ‘Othuvars’ are reciting ‘Thevaram’, 'Thirumanthiram’, and ‘Thiruvasagam’ among other religious texts only for few hours, and this Court places its strong opinion in that regard, observing that the service rendered by the Othuvars in the temples can’t be measured with the aid of clock,” the Judge said. Hence the High court directed the authorities to consider the claim of the petitioner for revision of his pay scale in the light of the government order No 183 dated August 29, 2011, and pass appropriate orders on merits and in accordance with law, within a period of six weeks.