Kerala - Kannur   

Devaswom boards not to be recast in a hurry, says Sudhakaran

Staff Reporter

KANNUR: Minister for Devaswoms and Cooperation G. Sudhakaran has said that Devaswom Boards in the State will not be reconstituted in a hurry in the wake of the Governor signing the Devaswom ordinance.

Inaugurating a seminar on "Malabar Devaswom Board: its necessity and limitations," organised by the Kottiyur Perumal Seva Sanghom here on Sunday, Mr. Sudhakaran termed the ordinance a major initiative after the Temple Entry Proclamation. The Government was not in a hurry to reconstitute the Boards. Only believers who could protect Hindu interests would be appointed.

Alleging that local Devaswoms were engaged in large-scale exploitation, the Minister said they had to be saved from the situation. Successive governments in the State had failed to control those "expropriating" funds in the name of God. Mr. Sudhakaran said a three-member Devaswom Special Commission would be appointed. Ministerial or administrative staff would be appointed to the Boards though the Kerala Public Service Commission. Reservation norms would be followed. Priests would be appointed after consultations with the respective Devaswoms, he added.

Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards enactments had remained largely unmodified for the last 57 years, he said adding that the ordinance would ensure independent functioning of the Devaswoms. It would also allow the Devaswoms to increase revenue. With the Ordinance, the Government would be empowered to expel corrupt Devaswom Board members, he said. Stating that a uniform Devaswom enactment was as impractical as the idea of a uniform civil code, Mr. Sudhakaran said the Malabar Devaswom Board would be constituted.

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