THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Government is planning to raise the strength of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) by inducting new members and also delegate powers of recruiting administrative and ministerial staff to the Public Service Commission.

Sources in the TDB told The Hindu that the proposals before the LDF Government were almost similar to those considered earlier by the UDF Government.

The number of members may be increased to seven, including a woman and representatives from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Though the UDF had plans to reduce the tenure of the board to two years, the LDF is planning to retain it at four years, sources said.

An amendment to the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act is on the anvil. The existing system does not allow for Government intervention of any kind.

The amendment would arm the Government with powers to take corrective steps in cases where charges of corruption or misbehaviour are levelled against the members.

The amendment would also give powers to the Government to reverse board decisions, which, it deems, are against the interests of the board.

It would also be vested with the authority to hear appeals against board members. But the Government does not propose to seek any right to interfere with the rites and rituals being followed in temples, sources said.

The commission will recruit only Hindus and those who have faith in temple worship.

The ministerial and administrative staff will be brought within the ambit of the Kerala Service Rules and the Kerala State Subordinate Service Rules.

The accounts of the board will be audited by the Local Fund Audit Department or any auditor prescribed by the Government, so that the audited accounts will come for scrutiny before the Public Accounts Committee too, sources said.

More transparency

The moves are aimed at ensuring transparency and increasing the efficiency of the board. The Government may consider the option of constituting a commission to review the functioning of the board once in five years.

The commission may have the powers to examine the records of the board, suggest remedial measures on detecting administrative lapses and also amendment to Acts and rules to improve administration, sources said.

At present, the Guruvayur Devaswom, and the Kozhikode-based Hindu Religious and Charitable Department, which manages 1,300 temples from Kasaragod to Palakkad, are controlled by the Government and the administrative and ministerial staff of the latter are recruited by the commission, sources said.

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