Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 24 Keralam Minister K Muraleedharan on Thursday said he would take an aggressive stand against the TDB if devotees’ interests were affected, citing the recent shortage of aravana prasadam (sweet pudding) at Sabarimala.
Speaking to reporters, Muraleedharan said he had appointed a dedicated official for Sabarimala, who would visit the shrine and collect details on the stock of raw materials such as jaggery and coconut oil used to prepare prasadam.
He said the step was being taken following reports of shortages of raw materials and that the government would decide on further action based on the official’s report.
“Where an aggressive stand is required to be taken, I will take it. I will not allow anyone to play around with devotees. If aravana and appam are not provided properly to devotees, an aggressive stand will have to be taken,” the Devaswoms and Health minister said.
Muraleedharan also said Chief Minister V D Satheesan had not asked him against taking an aggressive stand.
He said Satheesan would visit Sabarimala during the ‘Thula maasam’, which begins on October 18 and ends on November 16.
Travancore Devaswom Board president K Jayakumar, however, said Muraleedharan’s reaction was probably the result of a lack of proper communication from the Board and that the issue would be resolved.
“He may have said some things due to our failure to inform him about certain matters. It will be corrected. He has gone to Kozhikode; otherwise, I would have met him during the day,” Jayakumar said.
BJP Keralam president Rajeev Chandrasekhar accused the Congress-led UDF government of failing to do anything for Sabarimala devotees and instead being engaged in a dispute with the TDB over the temple’s functioning.
He said the Congress-led UDF had extensively invoked Lord Ayyappa’s name during the Assembly poll campaign.
“But they are not doing anything now for Sabarimala devotees. They are only engaged in a row with the Devaswom Board,” he said.
Regarding reports of a gold crown going missing from the Lord Ayyappa shrine, Muraleedharan said Jayakumar had claimed that it was present at the temple.
On the availability of medicines at government hospitals, Muraleedharan rejected allegations of a shortage of anti-rabies vaccine.
He said government hospitals had sufficient stocks of anti-rabies vaccine and other essential medicines.
He said hospitals had been permitted to procure medicines in short supply through ready-stock purchases.
(PTI News)
