The Hindu : Kerala News : Fleecing rampant at Sabarimala

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Sunday, Nov 21, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Fleecing rampant at Sabarimala

By Our Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA, NOV. 20. Fleecing of pilgrims at various commercial establishments at the holy hillock of Sabarimala has become the order of the day during the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season.

The closure of seven STD/ISD public telephone booths and unearthing of software manipulations in the BSNL billing machines following a police raid on Thursday are said to be only a tip of the iceberg that may throw more light upon the alarming rate of corrupt practices at Sabarimala.

But for the timely intervention of the Police Special Officer at the sannidhanam, S. Sreejith, the fleecing of pilgrims at the phone booths would have continued indefinitely.

The police team led by the sannidhanam SI, K.B. Prafullachandran, during the raid had seized seven computerised billing machines. The booths had been closed and 16 persons were arrested in this connection.

Mr. Sreejit told The Hindu that the BSNL software and programming of the billing machines were found badly manipulated. This was allegedly done at a Kottayam-based private firm at a cost of Rs. 1.5 lakhs per machine. It is noteworthy that the licensees have the right to run the shops after remitting the auction money ranging between Rs. 1.25 lakhs and Rs. 2.25 lakhs to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

Unholy nexus

The raid had sent shock waves among politicians and TDB contractors. A ruling party MLA was allegedly involved in an abortive attempt to `hush up' the case. To all indications, there is an unholy nexus of certain quarters attached to the TDB, BSNL, contractors and politicians behind the phone booth racket.

There were reports that the SI had received anonymous threats following the closure of the booths on Thursday night. All this hints at the clout of the contractor-TDB-politician unholy nexus.

However, it is also unjust to treat the entire TDB machinery at Sabarimala as corrupt. The sincere initiatives of those TDB officials and staff for the smooth conduct of the annual pilgrim season were often found to have been sabotaged by vested interests, leaving the former a demoralised lot.

Toilets, shelters

The hapless pilgrims coming from far-off places were reportedly being fleeced even at toilets and pilgrim shelters at the sannidhanam, making a mockery of the so-called Governmental efforts to provide basic pilgrim facilities at Sabarimala.

The TDB had constructed 768 public latrines at the sannidhanam with a user fee of 50 paise (urinal) and Rs. 2 (latrine). The board auctioned the right to run these toilets at a hefty sum of Rs. 14 lakhs during 2004-'05. There were allegations that the contractors were charging more user fee during rush days.

The situation is even worse at the 41 TDB pilgrim shelters (Viris) with a capacity to accommodate not less than 3,000 persons at the sannidhanam and Pandithavalom. It is alleged that the contractors charge huge amounts from pilgrims outside Kerala.

Accommodation

The TDB accommodation department is said to be a den of corruption. There were allegations that certain high-level quarters `bargain' for a seasonal posting at the accommodation wing. The board has 850 donor rooms (daily rent: Rs. 125 to Rs. 350) and 37 rooms (daily rent: Rs. 400 to Rs. 750) at its two guest houses at the sannidhanam. The fleecing of pilgrims and adulteration of food items at hotels and eateries are also matters of grave concern at Sabarimala.

The raid party led by the Duty Magistrate, Thomas Varghese, had seized 100 bottles of fake mineral water, besides stale food and milk powder packets from various shops at Pampa on November 16.

The pilgrims were reportedly forced to pay Rs. 7 to Rs. 10 for a banana and extra `transportation' charge of Rs. 3 to Rs. 5 above the retail price on a small packet of biscuit and other food items.

No inspection squads

The absence of effective inspection squads headed by the police special officers has made the law-enforcing agency toothless in dealing with various anti-pilgrim activities.

There were allegations on the supply of poor quality materials for `aravana payasam' and `appam'. But the police are helpless to take up the issue, as the TDB Vigilance wing is supposed to deal with such matters.

Many devotees opined that the joint inspection squads led by the police special officers with wide-ranging powers to conduct raids at key places like the TDB godown, accommodation counters, eateries and other commercial as well as service centres could help in reducing many corrupt practices.

They also condemned the practice of political appointments to the temple administrative body.

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