Pranavananda Swami criticises State govt. for being insensitive to Idiga demands

Arya Idiga Kendra Samiti president criticizes State government for neglecting community demands, including ST category inclusion and land allocation.

National president of the Arya Idiga Kendra Samiti Pranavananda Swami has slammed the dilly-dallying tactics of the State government towards fulfilling the demands of his community such as inclusion of the community in the Scheduled Tribes category.

Addressing presspersons here on Sunday, he chided Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge and Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil for turning a deaf ear to their long-pending demands.

“If the State government is reluctant to lifting the ban on toddy tapping, it has to provide two acres of land for cultivation to each Idiga family and allocate ₹500 crore to the Brahmashree Narayana Guru Corporation for the welfare of Idiga and Billava communities,” he added.

The demands also include the installation of a statue of Brahmashree Narayana Guru in front of the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru and government celebrations of Hendada Marayya birth anniversary.

Demanding one more Cabinet berth for Idiga community, Pranavananda Swami accused the Congress of discriminating against the community by inducting only one of the legislators belonging to the community in the State Cabinet.

Criticising Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for endorsing Swami Sachithananda’s statement that temples associated with Maharishi Narayana Guru will abolish the practice of male devotees removing their shirt before entering temples, Pranavananda Swami said that every temple has its own set of rules, rituals and traditions. Let the authorities concerned with temples decide it, he added.

The perception that everything can be imposed upon a particular community or that they (communities) can be coerced is unacceptable, he stated.