As Durgiana marks milestone, staff highlight lingering neglect

The Durgiana Temple is celebrating its centenary this month, but a section of its employees living in staff quarters hope that the temple management committee will use this occasion to improve their living conditions.

Over 30 employees and their families reside in quarters situated next to the cremation ground. Over the years, the condition of these quarters has deteriorated significantly. At present, only four toilets are available for over 120 residents. Female family members are forced to bathe in a corner of their one-room flats to avoid using the public toilets, where long queues are common during morning hours.

Some employees rue that they are being compelled to live in unhygienic conditions. With around 20 cremations taking place daily nearby, their rooftops and washing areas are often are grimed by ashes. They claim that their concerns have been ignored despite repeated appeals to the temple management committee.

The Durgiana Temple employs 234 staff members, including pujaris (priests), sewadars, security guards, caretakers of the cremation ground and workers in the Bhog Bhandar. Initially, all the employees are paid between Rs 7,000 and Rs 9,000 per month and after working for 15 to 18 years, their salary hardly crosses the mark of Rs 20,000. Priests and cooks are a little pampered as they get free accommodation and power supply.

In addition, priests are allowed to accept direct offerings from devotees on ‘Sangrand’, a practice prohibited on other days. Cooks also receive one month’s salary as bonus in a year.

This year, the temple management committee has brought all 234 employees under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) cover. Now, employees of the temple’s outsourced parking lot are also demanding their merger with the employees of the committee. They allege they are subjected to 12-hour shifts without any provision for holidays.

Temple management committee president Lakshmi Kanta Chawla said all essential facilities are being provided to employees and further steps are being planned to enhance their welfare. She added that the temple staff are better compensated than those in other temples across the city. She assured that the staff quarters would be improved and additional toilets constructed.