A dispute broke out at the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple’s Kalyana Katta in Yadagirigutta between current and newly appointed barbers.
There are already 96 barbers working at the temple under a system where they earn based on the number of services they provide. Recently, the temple’s Executive Officer (EO), Bhaskar Rao, appointed 20 new barbers following instructions from the Endowments Commissioner.
On Wednesday, the 20 new barbers came to the temple to start working. However, the existing barbers stopped them and held a protest. A heated argument took place between the protesting barbers and the Assistant Executive Officer (AEO). The AEO explained that the new appointments were made according to a court order. Despite the explanation, tensions remained high until the police arrived and brought the situation under control.
Eventually, once the court order and instructions from the Endowments department were shown, the 20 new barbers were allowed to begin work. Temple officials explained that as part of development work, some barbers lost their homes or shops near the temple. To help them, the Endowments Commissioner had decided that 33 affected individuals would be given work at the Kalyana Katta. So far, 20 of them have been appointed.
However, not everyone was happy with how the appointments were made. Rachakonda Janakiramu, president of the State Temple Kalyana Katta Association, said they were not officially informed about the new appointments. “The EO said there was a court order, but when we asked to see it, we were not given a copy. Normally, the temple sends us an official letter about new appointments. This time, they didn’t follow that process,” he said.
On the other hand, the newly appointed barbers were pleased. Jampala Raju, president of the Yadagirigutta Barbers’ Association, said, “Our dream of working at the Kalyana Katta has come true. Though a case was filed against us, we went to the High Court and won. After we showed the court order to the EO, we were allowed to join. We are ready to work together with the other barbers.”
