The news that Dalits are being trained for priesthood by the the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) is very encouraging.

   In this connection, I quote below a few lines from my small book, "Hindu Renaissance - Ways & Means", (Published in 2005 by the Hindu Writers Forum, New Delhi):

                Chapter 8 - Fresh entry into Hindu Dharma & Hindu society - (page 81)-"... There is a great need of finding ways and means to augment the ranks of true Kshatriyas and true Brahmins. It is possible only by promoting the OBCs, Dalits and trading class boys and girls, on the basis of their abibity and aptitude. Swami Dayanand and his Arya Samaj tried to remove the birth based caste system and replace it by actual merit of the person. They failed. Not only that. Today, in practice, by and large, even the Arya Samajists go by birth based caste system".

        So, while the TTD has started training the Dalits for priesthood, it is also the duty of the Hindu society to invite the trained Dalits to perform their religious rituals/ceremonies, pay them handsomely,  encourage them as true Brahmin priests, and appoint them as pujaris in temples. I hope, some Hindu religious bodies will also start imparting 'Kshatra dharma' to suitable Dalits, OBCs and others. Let me add that the Mahabharata, Shanti-parva, chap.64/26, states very clearly, "The Sanatan Dharma got destroyed hundereds of times, but (each time) it was redeemed and spread again by Kshatra-dharma. In every age, Kshatra-dharmaa is the best in the world".