Now, entry for all in Muzrai temples

The Congress government will ensure state-run temples are open to people of all castes and gender, Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy said on Saturday.

Reddy said boards will be put up outside all state-run temples stating that people of all castes will be allowed to visit the shrines. “The boards have started coming up already,” he told DH.

Earlier in the day, the Karnataka Congress said in a tweet that Reddy has ordered that such boards should be mandatory outside Muzrai temples. “Strict action will be taken to ensure that no temple will have discrimination based on someone being a Dalit or a woman,” the party said.

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“The Congress government believes that providing an atmosphere of dharmic freedom is the real form of protecting dharma.”

Last year, a legislature committee on SC/ST Welfare had asked the state government to instal boards outside all Muzrai temples that people of all castes will be allowed to visit the shrines. The recommendation was aimed at tackling caste-based discrimination.

Karnataka has 34,563 temples under the Muzrai department.