PM slams those who damaged public property during anti-CAA protests, says they should introspect
Lucknow, Dec 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed those who damaged public property during protests in Uttar Pradesh against the amended citizenship law, saying they should ask themselves whether what they did was right.
Modi was addressing a gathering after unveiling a statue of Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Lok Bhawan here on the former prime minister's birth anniversary, which is also observed as Good Governance Day. He also laid the foundation stone for the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University in the Uttar Pradesh capital.
"They (the vandals) should ask themselves was it right. Was their thinking right? Whatever has been burnt or destroyed would it not have been useful for their children?
"Think about those who died in the violence, the common citizens and policemen who suffered injuries in the violence. What goes through the mind of their family members," Modi asked.
He said he wanted to tell those who damaged public property "not to forget that rights and duties are both important and go hand in hand".
Over 15 people were killed, 263 police personnel injured and state-owned property damaged in violence during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Uttar Pradesh.
Modi said that "after Independence, we have always stressed on rights. But, now when we are moving towards 75 years of freedom, it is the demand of the hour that we should pay equal stress to our duties".
"I am saying this because in Uttar Pradesh the way in which some people indulged in violence in the name of protests, damaged government property, they should ask themselves was their path correct," he said.
"Better roads, better transport systems, good quality sewer lines are the rights of citizens. Then to keep them safe and clean is the duty of citizens," the prime minister said.
Good and accessible education is a citizen's right, but security of the educational institute and respecting the teacher is a citizen's duty, he said.
"Medical treatment is our right, but respecting the doctor is our duty. Getting a secured environment is our right, but honouring the police machinery is the duty of every citizen," the prime minister said.
Modi said "rights have a limit, but responsibility and sense of duty are vast". "In addition to rights, let us give as much importance to our duties as citizens," he said.
"This feeling is necessary for citizens as well as the government. The duty of the government is not to work for five years, but develop a habit to work for keeping in mind five generations," he said.
The Uttar Pradesh government is making efforts to fulfil its duty in this regard, Modi said, praising it for taking steps to eradicate encephalitis.
The government instead of becoming a roadblock, should become a medium for solutions (sarkaar atkaaney, uljhane ki bajaai, suljhaaney ka maadhyam baney), he said.
Modi said "at a time, when we are about to step into the New Year, a new decade, we should remember Atalji's two very simple benchmarks to assess how a government could contribute towards national progress".
"He (Vajpayee) used to say that every generation's contribution to India's development should be evaluated using two parameters. The first is how many problems which we have inherited have been solved by us. The second is for the development of the nation, what foundation have we laid through our own initiatives," he said.
Modi said in the light of these benchmarks, "we can say that India is entering 2020 with unprecedented success". Whatever economic, social or political problems and challenges that were inherited, "we are making continuous efforts to resolve them,'' he said.
"Article 370. How old was the disease? How difficult it used to look? We had inherited it. But, it was our responsibility to make efforts to resolve such challenges. And it happened. It happened with ease," Modi said, adding that the Ram Janmabhoomi issue was also resolved peacefully.
On the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, he said giving citizenship to those who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to "save the dignity of their daughters", was another problem whose solution was found by 130 crore Indians.
"Since India's Independence and partition, lakhs of poor, mostly Dalits, the oppressed and the deprived in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in order to save their religion and honour of their daughters were forced to seek shelter in India. Paving the way for their citizenship, solutions to many such problems, have been found by 130 crore Indians," he said.
Modi said that "an India, which is full of confidence is entering 2020, stepping into a new decade". Even now, whatever is left to be solved, whether it be housing for the poor or making water available, every Indian is making efforts to resolve them, he said.
"It is in our nature to challenge every challenge," the prime minister asserted.
Modi said the road map to better health care was based on four points which are preventive health care, affordable health care, supply-side intervention and mission-mode intervention.
He also highlighted the schemes of his government towards this direction.
On the medical university, Modi said it will provide affiliation to government, semi-government and private colleges, and help in improving the quality of medical education in Uttar Pradesh.
He also said the magnificent statue of Vajpayee will inspire people working at the Lok Bhavan, the building from where the state government works, to deliver good governance and public service.
"Good governance is also not possible until we think of the problems in totality," Modi said.
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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.
