New Delhi

Some 800 Imams and Maulvis, Muslim clerics who lead prayers and perform nikah ceremonies, working across Haryana will start getting Rs 14000 to 16,000 per month with immediate effect as the State Government announced a 50 percent hike in their remuneration.

This comes in the wake of the Manohar Lal Khattar government’s recent announcement to this effect along with promising a 5 percent annual increment.

Khattar said a similar provision was being worked out for the Hindu temple priests, A Board has been set up to examine the issue. The board will also work on the welfare of religious workers like Imams and Pujaris.

To celebrate the impact of this decision the Haryana Waqf Board organised a felicitation ceremony at Gurugram University where the officials honoured Chief Minister Khattar for hiking the honorarium.

Tanzeem Aima-e-Auqaf, an organisation of the imams, said the salary hike was unprecedented and at least 800 imams working with various mosques in Haryana will benefit from this decision.

Imams are paid salaries by Haryana Waqf Board, that in turn gets grants from the state government. Besides, the Waqf Board also generates its income from the rentals of its properties.

On the occasion Zakir Hussain, the administrator of the Haryana Waqf Board, said that imams will be paid between Rs. 14,000 and Rs. 16,000 as honorarium per month. He said it was for the first time that someone was even thinking about the salary hike of the Imams.

“The provision of a 5% yearly hike in imams’ salary has never happened anywhere in India,” he told OpIndia.

Speaking on the occasion, CM Khattar said, “Every possible effort is being made to increase brotherhood in Haryana. Considering the demands of Imam organisations, we have increased the honorarium of Maulanas and Imams. The demands were not taken into consideration for the past several years.”

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Addressing the media after the programme, chief minister Khattar said, “Imams can play a crucial road in improving education and health facilities in areas such as Mewat. We are also working on creating more infrastructure and development in this region. The imams have also played an important role in the success of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in Mewat as well as the Swachh Bharat campaign,” he said.