Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Steps taken for uninterrupted supply of `aravana'

N.J. Nair

Contract for preparing `aravana' at Sabarimala set to expire on April 13

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the contract for preparing `aravana payasam' in Sabarimala set to expire on April 13, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is understood to have initiated preliminary steps for the preparation and distribution of the `prasadam.'

Official sources say that Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran has directed Special Commissioner K.K. Vijayakumar to make alternative arrangements at the earliest.

The agreement for the preparation, cooling and packing of `aravana payasam' by a private company for eight years was reached on April 13, 1999.

BoT basis

The machinery was installed by the company on build-operate-transfer basis and the TDB can take it over once the agreement expires.

The previous Board is understood to have considered a proposal to set up a `prasadam' plant at Pandithavalam for Rs.8 crore.

The decision to prepare a project proposal for Rs.48 lakh had drawn flak and it was pending before a panel appointed by the High Court to look into the functions of the Board, sources said.

Meanwhile, the pact which is expiring on April 13 is feared to have incurred a loss of Rs.8 crore to the Board. A report of the Local Fund Audit points out that the decision to award the contract for eight years was `highly irregular' and would incur heavy loss year after year.

When the Board submitted a proposal to modernise the production of the `prasadam,' the High Court accepted it as an interim measure till foolproof manufacturing methods were made.

Directive ignored

The Board ignored the direction and signed the contract for eight years.

This was not to the advantage of the Board and may result in "undue and unintended financial benefit to the company." The agreement was not in the spirit of the court order, the report says.

The project was implemented without inviting tenders.

"This action of the (Board) president is highly irregular and violation of the natural principles of entering into an agreement," the report says.

Before implementing the project, the Board should have obtained the proposals of other firms.

But no tenders were invited from expert firms to ascertain the actual cost of the project and no attempt was made to get the lowest offer.

The company had no previous experience in manufacturing `aravana prasadam' in any Devaswom, the report says.

The Board allegedly ignored the recommendations of the auditors to realise the loss from the company, sources say.

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