The local fund audit wing of the State government will be scrutinising the register (Thiruvabharanam Register) showing the stock of gold and silver offered by devotees to the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala over the past several years.
The local fund audit wing has been entrusted with the task of conducting concurrent audit at Sabarimala on the basis of an order issued by the Kerala High Court to that effect 25 years ago.
According to Sabarimala Devaswom executive officer D. Sudheeshkumar, the board has already provided the stock register to the auditors as they completed the voucher audit at Sabarimala on May 19.
According to custom and practice, every valuable article received as offering at Sabarimala were being properly weighed, packed, and kept in the strong room controlled by the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner at Aranmula.
An accounts officer had also been appointed as its custodian and no foul play with the stock could be possible as the temple authority had ensured a collective responsibility for its safety, Mr. Sudheeshkumar said.
However, there were also allegations of improper maintenance of stock register at the Devaswom strong room at Aranmula.
Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A. Padmakumar told The Hindu that the board had ordered a proper verification of all the gold and silver stock at the Devaswom strongroom in the wake of the allegations a year ago.
Official’s fault
Mr. Padmakumar said a former accounts officer, who was in charge of the Devaswom strong room, had failed to hand over the official charge to a successor when he retired from service six years ago, leading to all sorts of confusion today.
According to Mr. Padmakumar, the erring former accountant, Mohanan, was yet to receive his pension as the TDB was yet to complete the stock verification process.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mohanan moved the court seeking a direction to the TDB for settling his pension. The court directed the board to complete the verification in a time-bound manner and settle the retired employee’s case at the earliest, Mr. Padmakumar said.
He said Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran had sought clarification from the board on the issue. The TDB chief would be submitting the executive officer’s statement regarding the matter to the Minister on Monday, he said.
Published - May 26, 2019 10:58 pm IST
