A four-member ISO team conducted the “Stage two certification audit” at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here on Wednesday following an application for ISO 9001:2008 certification for temple premises in order to provide quality service to devotees.
Chennai-based ISO Lead Auditor A.C. Thirumaran told The Hindu that the team had suggested minor corrective measures to the temple authorities following their day-long audit.
“We have found no major deviations from the standards prescribed for ISO certification. As soon as the corrective works are carried out, the results would be analysed by a committee, based on which a final decision would be announced. The result of the audit is likely to come out within a month or so,” he said.
The ISO 9001:2008 quality management system certification would be provided by KBS agency on behalf of National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), which undertakes assessment and ensures that applicants maintain quality in line with international standards and guidelines outlined by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
The agency had conducted an internal audit on February 1 and suggested some measures.
Executive Officer R. Padmanaban said that the certification was mainly focussed on areas such as hygiene, security, quality of service to devotees and administration.
Following this initiative, the temple had undertaken major works ranging from providing gloves and masks to cooks for ‘ annadhanam ' to having Fire and Rescue Services personnel imparting training to 50 temple staff.
Several personnel had been trained in providing first-aid for fractures, bruises and cut injuries.
Hindu Munnani protest
Earlier in the day, around ten advocates belonging to Hindu Munnani met the ISO auditors and protested the move to give certification for the temple.
Such a certification had no place in religious institution, they said.
Earlier in the week, Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had come out strongly against this move.
Mr. Padmanaban assured them that this certification was only for the temple premises and would, in no way, interfere with the religious and pooja practices or cause inconvenience to devotees.
This was purely an administrative measure.
