The Hindu : Kerala News : Devaswom panel members take oath

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Friday, Feb 18, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Devaswom panel members take oath

By Our Staff Reporter

The managing committee members of the Guruvayur Devaswom in the committee room of the Devaswom headquarters at Guruvayur on Thursday.

GURUVAYUR, FEB. 17. A new managing committee took charge of the Guruvayur Devaswom administration today ending several months of uncertainty.

The six newly nominated members, K. Velayudhan Nambiar, N.K. Sudhir, P.N.P. Panikker, V. Trivikraman, R. Rajasekharan and Gopalan (Gokulam), took oath before the Devaswom Commissioner, K. Mohandas, in the presence of a large gathering at the Devaswom office this morning. With this, the strength of the managing committee has gone up to nine, including the three permanent members, the temple tantri, Chennas Namboodiripad; the head of the Zamorin royal family of Kozhikode, P.K.S. Raja; and the senior member of the Mallissery Mana and Ooralan of the temple, Parameswaran Namboodiri.

Nambiar chairman

A meeting of the new committee held immediately after the swearing-in ceremony unanimously elected Mr. Nambiar as chairman.

Ever since the completion of the term of the previous committee on November 6, 2004, the Guruvayur Devaswom had been managed by two officials, the Commissioner and the Administrator, in consultation with an ad hoc managing committee comprising the three permanent members. Group rivalries in the Congress were the main reason for the delay in the constitution of the committee. Finally when the names were announced, a petition was filed in the High Court against some of the new members. However, the swearing-in ceremony could take place as scheduled this morning.

Talking to presspersons, the new chairman said he would try to enlist the cooperation of all sections to implement various schemes for the development of Guruvayur. Drinking water shortage and problems in drainage and power supply are some of the areas that require immediate attention. The priorities will be fixed after consulting all the members and those concerned.

Crown inspection

Replying to questions, he said the committee would wait for the response of the Government to the Income Tax Department's notice seeking permission to inspect the golden crown offered by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, to the temple in 2001.``This is an issue involving the Chief Minister of another State, and the ad hoc managing committee had taken a decision to seek the opinion of the Government. We will now wait for the response of the Government. This does not mean that we will accept the opinion of the Government. But definitely the opinion of the Government will be given due consideration,'' Mr. Nambiar said.

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