The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday more than doubled the honorarium paid to Muslim clerics and muezzins in the state.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath gave his nod to a proposal to hike the honorarium of imams from Rs 2,200 to Rs 5,000 per month and that of their deputies - muezzins - from Rs 1,900 to Rs 4,500 a month, a government officer said.

The hike was suggested by Minister of Minority Affairs Arif Aqueel at the inauguration of a building of the Madhya Pradesh Masajid Committee near the famous Taj-ul Masajid (mosque) here and Nath promptly gave his nod, he said.

The committee is a religious institution of the Muslim community.

Imams lead the prayers, while muezzins give calls for prayers.

Service to humanity is the biggest religion. We serve our religions by servicing the needy," Nath said at the function.

Our country's culture is great as we respect feelings of each other which fosters unity and peaceful co-existence, Nath added.

Our culture of unity in diversity remains intact till today as generations after generations have demonstrated their dedication to this principle," the chief minister added.

Nath said the biggest challenge today is to take the values of our great culture and diversity to the young generation.

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