PATHANAMTHITTA: To all indications, the Government is all set to ``clip the wings'' of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) through an Ordinance in the wake of allegations of corruption in its functioning.

The Cabinet is understood to have accepted in principle two draft Ordinances — one giving powers to the Government on revision and rule-making in the administration of the TDB and the other on increasing the number of Board members from three to five, thereby including a member of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on the Board.

Many devotees who talked to The Hindu have expressed their apprehensions about the sincerity of the Government in ending `corruption' in the TDB which administers over 1,200 Hindu temples. However, all of them are of the view that the functioning of the TDB should be streamlined in the larger interests of the temples.

``Every stakeholder in Sabarimala appears to be having their own hidden agenda,'' they say.

They allege that political nominations to the temple administrative body by successive Governments have been the bane of the TDB, leading to a commercial culture at pilgrim centres such as Sabarimala.

The previous Government had taken an initiative to draft a Unified Devaswom Bill with a view to establishing an apex board for the Guruvayur, Cochin and Travancore Devaswom Boards. But the Bill which got clearance from the Cabinet as well as the Law Department got lapsed.

Though the A.K. Antony Government had drafted an Ordinance to reduce the term of devaswom boards to two years, it was not presented before the Cabinet for approval despite getting clearance from the Law Department.

Many devotees fear that the proposed Ordinances are likely to face a similar fate. They say that it is high time the Government showed the political will to streamline the temple administrative body.

Also, there are allegations of a cold war between the TDB authorities and two Ministers. Devaswom Minister K.C. Venugopal says the Government is bound to ensure transparency in the functioning of the TDB in the backdrop of the corruption charges levelled against it in connection with staff recruitment. But TDB president G. Raman Nair says the controversy over the appointments is aimed at maligning the Board.

The TDB member Punalur Madhu alleges that the corruption charges are a mere smokescreen created by certain vested interests attached to the Government. Another Board member, M.B. Sreekumar, who is also the Devaswom secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, says that ``Chief Minister Oommen Chandy himself knows it well that the TDB will not yield to any recommendations in the appointment procedures.'' He also alleges that the TDB authorities were badly sidelined at Tuesday's function hosted by the Forest Department in Pampa to hand over land transfer documents to the TDB. ``Neither the Devaswom Minister nor the Forest Minister had bothered to offer a chair to the Board president who had to wait outside the stage for a few minutes until he was offered a chair by the Chief Minister,'' Mr. Sreekumar says.

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