Owaisi leads Muslims' delegation, urges TRS govt to stay NPR in Telangana
Hyderabad, Dec 25: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi along with representatives of a body of Muslim organisations in Telangana met Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday and requested him to stay the work on updation of National Population Register (NPR) on the lines of Kerala.
Emerging from the meet, Owaisi described it as "positive" and said they informed Rao NPR was the first step toward National Register of Citizens (NRC). The latter was 'sympathetic' toward their cause and sought two days time to inform the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi's stand, he said.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha member, accompanied by representatives of city-based United Muslim Action Committee in the meeting, said NPR was the first step toward National Register of Citizens (NRC) and there was a necessity for all like-minded parties to come together on the issue.
NPR is the first step towards NRC. We have informed the Chief Minister about it. We urged him to stay implementation of National Population Register (NPR) on the lines of Kerala government. We gave the order copy of Kerala," he told reporters here.
Amid the protests over the NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act, the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala on Friday said it has ordered a stay on all activities in connection with the NPR, scheduled early next year in the state, considering 'apprehensions' of public that it would lead to NRC.
Kerala is the second state after West Bengal to have ordered a stay on NPR activities in the wake of the protests over CAA and the contentious NRC.
The Centre on Tuesday approved nearly Rs 12,700 crore for carrying out the Census 2021 and the NPR and made it clear that NPR has no relation with the NRC.
Owaisi said the Chief Minister told them he would hold talks with like-minded political parties on the NPR issue and if needed organise a public meeting.
"It was a positive meeting. The Chief Minister repeatedly stressed that this issue was not concerned with Muslims alone and it concerns the entire country, he said.
He claimed KCR, as Rao is popularly known, asked him to invite leaders of all political parties to the MIM's proposed public meeting in Nizamabad on Friday on the issue.
We will also invite the Congress, CPM and CPI. TRS will participate. This is an issue to save the country, Owaisi quoted KCR as having said.
The AIMIM chief said he was hopeful of a positive decision from KCR, who according to him, sough two days time to inform the partys stand on NPR.
Showing some documents, the MP said according to the government websites, NPR is the first step towards undertaking the proposed NRC.
He also claimed that according to an Right to Information Act (RTI) query, only 29 per cent of the population in Telangana had birth certificate.
Owaisi had on Friday said when a nationwide NRC was done, every Indian would be in trouble (to prove their nationality).
Not even five per cent of the people in India have passports, he had said.
Addressing a protest meeting against NPR, NRC and CAA at Mahabubnagar late on Tuesday night, he alleged Prime Minister Modi and Home MinisterAmit Shah were not telling the truth with regard to NRC and detention centres to house suspected illegal immigrants.
Referring to Modi's speech in Ramlila ground in Delhi that there was no discussion on NRC, he said the President in his address in Parliament after the NDA government was formed had said NRC would be brought.
"It is Union Government that prepares the speech of the President. It was read out in parliament. Was it wrong? he asked.
Modi himself had said in an interview to an English TV channel that NRC would be conducted, he claimed.
Owaisi also said while Prime Minister said no detention centres had been built, a detention centre has come up in Karnataka and a huge such facility was being built in Assam.
Indian Prime Minister, we were not expecting this from you, he said.
In 2014, the then Union Minister of state for Home Kiren Rijiju had said in reply to a query that NPR is a register of all the usual residents which includes citizens and non- citizen as well. (He) replied in parliament, NPR is a first step towards creation of NRC, the MIM leader said.
Owaisi claimed a low-level official would seek additional documents, during NPR work, after writing remarks as doubtful citizen though documents have already been submitted.
On death of 18 people in violence during protests against CAA in Uttar Pradesh, he said there should be an independent judicial inquiry to bring out the truth.
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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.
