The State government is planning to enact a comprehensive law for the Malabar Desawom Board, Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan informed the Assembly on Monday.
The Bill would be presented in a session of the Assembly specially convened for enacting legislations, he said. Steps had been taken to rectify anomalies and implement the recommendations of the pay revision announced in February 2019 for employees of the Malabar Devaswom Board, he added.
3,069 temples
The vigilance and auditing mechanisms in the Devaswoms would be strengthened, he said. These measures would serve to reduce complaints regarding corruption in devaswoms. There are around 3,069 temples under the five devaswoms in the State.
Pointing out that temples cannot go forward merely on the incomes from offerings, the Minister said steps were being taken to increase the incomes of each devaswom from other sources. “It will be difficult for the State government to extend financial support to the devaswoms forever. Devaswoms should be able to step up income generation,” he said.