Sabarimala pilgrimage: employees’ outfit raise alarm over sluggish pace of tendering, preparations

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A review meeting for Sabarimala pilgrimage preparation chaired by Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Ahead of the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season at Sabarimala, the Travancore Devaswom Employees Front has expressed serious concern over reports that tendering process and preparatory arrangements are progressing at a sluggish pace. The employees' outfit has called for urgent action to avert any further embarrassment for the Devaswom department in front of devotees and the general public during the upcoming pilgrimage season..

The front has also submitted a complaint to the Chief Minister and the Devaswom Minister in this regard. The revenue received during the Sabarimala season forms the financial foundation for the day-to-day expenses, salaries and pensions of temple employees under the board. Any decline in this revenue could seriously affect even the conduct of temple rituals. Therefore, spending money from the Devaswom general fund on all the new arrangements proposed to be introduced at Sabarimala and elsewhere could have serious financial consequences for the board in the future, the front said in a statement.

Similarly, sponsors should be permitted at Sabarimala only after proper verification. It is not advisable to meet all expenses by drawing money from the general fund. There have been complaints for several years that the food served at the mess for Devaswom employees on duty at Sabarimala is of substandard quality. A proper menu should be prepared and displayed, and the mess should be operated following the system adopted in the police messes, it said.

In addition, a majority of the contractors participating in the e-tender/e-auction of shops and other contract/licence arrangements at Sabarimala may have limited computer knowledge. Therefore, necessary training and awareness programmes regarding the e-tender/e-auction procedures should be provided to prospective bidders in advance, the statement said.

Steps should also be taken to install modern scanning equipment at the entrance of the Bhandaram (hundi) for frisking the employees on duty. At present, the Class IV employees are required to continue on duty for the entire 66-day period. This should be discontinued and a shift system should also be introduced for Class IV employees, it said.

Employee transfers should be carried out urgently and strictly according to the applicable norms. Even though four months have passed since the general transfer, the Board has not been able to complete the transfers of clerks and other employees. Moreover, some officers are reportedly reluctant to implement the transfer orders already issued in several groups, the statement said.

The organisation has also alleged that for the past 10 years employees affiliated with the Left union have been selectively assigned to the Aravana buffer stock duty.