Kuala Lumpur, May 31 (ANI): The Malaysian Government will not extend permits for priests and temple musicians from India to continue working in the temples in Malaysia.

According to Penang Hindu Endowment Board chief A. Thanashekaran, the Immigration department has rejected the new applications.

According to the Makkal Osai daily, previously, the visas for the temple priests and temple musicians were extended for another one year at RM50 when their current visa period expired, and now the extensions are taking place on a month-to-month basis at the same cost.

He said that this decision had forced temple committees to incur extra expenditure and created problems when conducting daily prayers without a trained priest from India.

He was speaking to reporters after meeting the temple committee of Sri Ramar temple, one of the temples being managed by the Hindu Endowment Board, at the temple premises yesterday. (ANI)