Communist agenda of Complete Destruction of Temples , In Practice

 Remove TDB chief, say members

Pioneer News Service | Thiruvananthapuram

The ongoing feud in the Travancore Dewaswom Board (TDB) with president CK Guptan, CPI(M)-nominee on the one side and the members P Narayanan and PK Sumathikutty Amma, the CPI and the RSP-nominees respectively on the other side; has reached a point in which the members had called for the removal of the president.

The TDB which has more than 1,200 temples under its administration is at its lowest ebb with the festival season on and the temple authorities not in a position to conduct the annual festivals as the funds are to be sanctioned from the board headquarters in a joint sitting of the members and the president.

With the high politicisations of the Board, the Hindu temples are suffering and the devotees are in a confusion on the smooth conduct of the festivals in these TDB temples.

In an interesting twist of the proceedings in the Board, the assistant accounts officer Satheesh Kumar who was suspended by the president was cancelled by the members and he was reinstated.

The members convened a meeting and then took the decision. The Board members P Narayanan said the CPI(M) should replace the present president with a new person for settling the issue in the Board.

Satheesh was suspended after he refused to clear the salary bills of the vigilance officers on deputation to the Board as the members had opposed this. The Dewaswom Minister G Sudhakaran and president CK Gupthan are for sanctioning the salaries to the vigilance officers while the members are antagonistic to this move.

The members were sore that the president had taken the decision to suspend the accounts officer unilaterally without having any consultations with the members. The members had also aired their views on the issue publicly.

Meanwhile, the unions in the Dewaswom also took their respective positions with the CPI(M)-supported union in favour of the president and all other unions for the removal of the president. The TDB employees also boycotted the office and conducted protest march inside the premises of the Dewaswom headquarters.

The Dewaswom Minister G Sudhakaran has the other day in a public programme announced that he would finish off the Board members P Narayanan and Sumathi Kutty Amma as members of the Board using certain powers and added that the members are worried over the corruption charges levelled against them.

The TDB issue has now taken an ugly turn with the employees also taking sides and a vertical split among the employees would result into a major crisis for running the affairs of the Board. The employees representing the trade unions of the Congress, the CPI and the RSP supporting the members and the decisions taken by them while the employees supporting the CPI(M) union are vehemently opposing the members and supporting the president’s action.

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