Haveri contractors seek mercy killing over unpaid dues by Karnataka government
Haveri: The contractors in Haveri district have reportedly threatened to seek mercy killing if the Karnataka government fails to clear their long-pending dues totaling Rs 738 crore by the end of April.
The contractors alleged that years of unpaid bills, coupled with rampant corruption and mounting debt, have pushed them to the brink of desperation. “The contractors in the district would be forced to seek mercy killing if the government failed to clear the pending dues by April-end,” Mallikarjun Haveri, taluk president of Haveri district contractors’ association, was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald.
The association claimed that commissions ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent commission for the works in the district are being demanded by officials and middlemen in several departments, including the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL) and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR).
“The contractors borrow money at high interests to execute the works. We paid a commission hoping that they would clear our dues. The middlemen are sucking contractors’ blood,” Mallikarjun alleged.
“In Haveri district, bills amounting to Rs 200 crore is pending with the Public Works Department, RDPR has to clear Rs 138 crore in dues to contractors and Rs 400 crore is pending for the works announced during the previous BJP government,” he added.
Meanwhile, the contractors had staged a protest demanding payment of their long-pending dues during the winter session of the state legislature in Belagavi. In response, the Public Works Minister had then assured them that the bills would be cleared in phases by the end of March. However, the RDPR, KNNL, and the Minor Irrigation Department have yet to release payments amounting to several crores.
“Now, the contractors are urging the government to either settle their dues or permit them to opt for euthanasia,” the contractors’ association office-bearer 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.
