‘Pathis’ raise slogans at Golden Temple in Sukhbir’s presence

Amritsar, July 31 : Priests (pathis) in the Golden Temple on Monday protested against “low wages” in the presence of SAD chief Sukhbir Badal and Union Minister Harsimrat Badal while the akhand path was on. Sukhbir and Harsimrat were there to be part of the akhand path being performed at the Akal Takht on their behalf. The protesting pathis of the Golden Temple, supported by their colleagues from Gurdwara Shahidan Sahib, Gurdwara Budha Sahib and Gurdwara Baba Bakala refused to accept fresh akhand path bookings till their grievances were redressed. There are around 800 pathis engaged temporarily with the Golden Temple, 500 with Gurdwara Shahidan Sahib and nearly 150 each with Gurdwara Budha Sahib and Gurdwara Baba Bakala. They demanded a raise in their wages, besides other basic facilities offered to the SGPC regular employees. Priest Angrej Singh alleged that the SGPC had been adopting double standards when it came to paying wages or offering medical and educational facilities to its employees. He said the SGPC had granted them a raise of just Rs 50 per shift on the insistence of Sukhbir Badal, prior to the elections. “But today, SGPC officials refused to entertain us and we were forced to shun work to raise our concerns. Majority of the pathis have been associated with the respective gurdwaras for the past over three decades, but are given indifferent treatment in comparison to other employees and officials. Neither our children are allowed to study in any of the SGPC schools or institutes nor are we or our families entitled to free medical aid in its hospitals. We have repeatedly approached successive SGPC presidents, but to no avail,” he said. Harsimrat Badal condemned the move. “It was unbecoming on their part to vitiate the spiritual environs by raising slogans,” she said.