The Malabar Devaswom Staff Union (MDSU), affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress, has urged the Malabar Devaswom Board to utilise temple funds offered by devotees for better management and renovation of temples.
Reacting to a reported statement of the board chairman P. Chathukutty that the board was planning to utilise funds from the temples in the Malabar region having large revenue for charitable activities and starting hospitals, MDSU secretary V.V. Sreenivasan said that it could be motivated by a desire to control temple funds in ways in which cooperative institutions were captured and controlled. Many well-known temples in the region were in dilapidated state and employees in the temples were in near-penury. Even the salary of full-time employees was fixed at less than Rs.4,000, he said.
The board could think of starting hospitals and medical colleges once there was surplus fund after converting temple funds in the region into a common fund and improving the management of temples, he added.
