Mangaluru: Moulana Azad Model PU Colleges to open in Manjanady, Pudu
Mangaluru: The State Government has approved the establishment of Moulana Azad Model Pre-University (PU) Colleges in Manjanady and Pudu, located in the Dakshina Kannada district. These colleges, managed by the Department for Minority Welfare, are part of a broader initiative to launch 25 such institutions across the state beginning in the current academic year.
As outlined in the 2024-25 budget, the Ministry for Minority Welfare’s Haj and Waqf Department has issued orders to commence Pre-University Courses (PCMB - Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology) in 25 Moulana Azad Model Schools that have their own buildings. This expansion aims to enhance educational opportunities for minority communities throughout the state.
The decision to upgrade these schools and add PU sections was made during a meeting on June 10, attended by Minority Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan. Factors such as the minority community population, requests from elected representatives, district office reports, and other considerations played a role in determining the locations for these new colleges.
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To support the academic programs, 175 new guest faculty positions will be created, with each of the 25 selected schools receiving seven posts. Lecturers will be appointed in subjects including Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Kannada, English, and Urdu.
In addition to the two colleges in Dakshina Kannada (Manjanady and Pudu), the government order includes the establishment of colleges in several other districts: Haveri (Savanur and Haveri), Kalaburagi (Jevargi and Kalaburagi), Raichur (Raichur and Sindhanur), Koppal (Gangavathi and Koppal), and one college each in Ballari, Bagalkota, Bidar, Bengaluru North, Belagavi, Davangere, Hubballi, Hassan, Kolar, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Tumkur, Vijayanagara, Vijayapura, and Yadgir.
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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.
