Ladakh: LG to review security situation; preparations underway for cremation of 2 more slain persons
Leh (PTI): Curfew remained in force for the sixth day in this violence-hit town on Monday with Lt Governor Kavinder Gupta set to chair a meeting to review the overall security situation.
"The situation remained by and large peaceful in the curfew-bound areas with no untoward incident reported from anywhere. Police and paramilitary forces are deployed in strength in sensitive areas and are maintaining strict vigil to maintain law and order,” an official said.
He said the Lt Governor has convened a high-level meeting at Raj Bhavan to review the security situation in view of the last rites of ex-serviceman Tsewang Tharchin of Skurbuchan and Rinchen Dadul (21) of Hanu later in the day.
The last rites of two youngsters -- Stanzin Namgyal (24) and Jigmet Dorjay (25)
--- were performed on Sunday. The four persons had died on September 24 amid widespread violence in the town.
The officials said mobile internet services continued to remain suspended in Leh town, while prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more persons also remained in force in other major parts of the Union Territory, including Kargil.
The curfew was imposed in Leh town on Wednesday evening following widespread violent protests during a shutdown called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) to advance talks with the Centre on the demands for statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh. More than 150 persons, including some 80 policemen, were also injured in the clashes.
Over 60 persons, including two councilors, were taken into custody. They include climate activist Sonam Wangchuk who was detained under the National Security Act on Friday and subsequently lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan.
Curfew was relaxed for four hours in a phased manner in the town on Saturday and the relaxation period passed off peacefully.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
