There is a serious threat to the survival of thousands of 'teerth purohits' in the country due to the lockdown over the novel coronavirus pandemic, an office bearer of the All India Teerth Purohit Mahasabha said.
"In absence of any immediate support from the government, the existence of their family is in peril," Mahesh Pathak, president of the Akhil Bhartiya Teerth Purohit Mahasabha, said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pathak has requested Modi to grant some relief to the priests in the same way the Centre had given to industrial units, traders, daily wage earners, labourers and others.
The Teerth 'purohits' earned a meagre amount of Rs 10,000-15,000 per month by acting as a guide/custodian of pilgrims, but tourism is halted ever since lockdown was imposed, he said.
Appreciating the prime minister for steps taken by him to contain the deadly COVID-19, he said: "Teerth Purohits have contributed in his mission by providing all possible help to stranded pilgrims."
In absence of pilgrimage, their income through acting as a guide has turned zero, Pathak said, adding that even the priests were also passing through the state of poverty.
Pathak requested Modi to consider their case sympathetically and provide them assistance.
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