Members as well as employees of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) have not reportedly filed their mandatory statement of assets since 2010.
This is in blatant violation of the provisions of the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, a circular issued by the board, and Lok Ayukta guidelines that mandate board members and staff to file their asset statement annually.
Board sources told The Hindu that the alleged laxity of the successive boards and senior officials in securing the statements had provided ample room for the corrupt to amass wealth disproportionate to their official source of income and go unscathed. Board members were deemed as public servants and they were bound by the same law, but it was observed more in the breach.
No action taken so far
Instances of senior officials holding pivotal positions going on foreign jaunts after every Sabarimala pilgrimage season, without informing the authorities concerned had been reported, but no action had been initiated so far, sources said.
Since the board does not have an efficient system for maintaining and monitoring the attendance of the staff, bunking work often goes unnoticed. Complaints have been raised about the system of maintaining leave records too. Instances of officials drawing substantial sums as advance before each Sabarimala festival season and failing to furnish the statement of expenses have been reported, but to no avail.
A thorough scrutiny of the private asset details of officers at the top echelons of the board such as Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Chief Engineer, Finance Officer and Secretary over the years would bring to light the gravity of the lapse in filing the statement, sources said.
The board is bound to file a quarterly administrative report to the government comprising the crucial decisions, development works undertaken, expenses incurred for various projects, investments made under various heads, assets created and such others.
This system has reportedly come to a nought long back and hence successive governments were unable to keep track of the functions of the board, detect the lapses, and suggest remedial measures from time to time. The government is likely to initiate corrective steps on completion of the ongoing Devaswom vigilance probe into the allegations against the previous board.
