The appointment of 80 more part time priests in various temples has been suggested by the Travancore Devaswom Recruitment Board. This includes 26 non-Brahmin priests selected from the reservation category.
This would take the total number of non–Brahmin priests appointed by the board to 62, including six Dalits.
Of the new temporarily appointed non-Brahmin priests, nine are from Ezhava community, six from scheduled castes, five from other backward communities and two each from Viswakarma and Dheervava communities, reports TOI.
On October 6, for the first time, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) followed reservation in posting temple priests by appointing 30 priests from OBC communities and six priests from Dalit communities.
The TDB released the list of 62 candidates on October 6 including the 36 priests from oppressed castes, after the recruitment board chose them following a selection process spanning months.
While some of the 36 priests got in through the quota, others figured in the merit list of the general quota.
Many dignitaries including actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan have hailed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for appointing 36 priests from oppressed castes to serve in temples administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
The actor had tweeted saying, "Bravo Travancore Devaswom Board. Salute to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for appointing 36 non-Brahmin priests. Periyar's dream realised.”
However, a few weeks before the appointment of the 36 priests from oppressed castes, the case of 36-year-old Sudhikumar had made news. Sudhikumar, a priest belonging to Ezhava caste considered an OBC in Kerala was allegedly prevented from joining as a priest in Chettikulangara temple in Alappuzha, and this had blown up into a controversy.
After a Hindu Matha Convention in the temple objected to the appointment of the Ezhava priest citing that the goddess will be upset over it, the TDB had cancelled Sudhikumar's appointment. But, after Sudhikumar's prolonged battle with the board, it reinstated him to the post in September.