Devaswom ordinance: controversial clause to be dropped

Congress-led ruling UDF Monday asked the government to remove a controversial clause in the recent State Devaswom Board Ordinance which made it mandatory for Hindu MLAs to declare 'they are believers in god' for participating in the election of a nominee to temple boards from their electoral college. CPM leaders and MLAs of opposition LDF had staged a sit-in before the Raj Bhavan recently urging the Governor to reject the ordinance holding that the move was "unconstitutional'. Addressing a press conference after a day-long meeting of UDF liaison committee at nearby Kovalam, Front Convener P K Thankachan said even some Front leaders also opposed the clause and wanted it to be dropped. However, he said LDF which has more Hindu MLAs than the ruling coalition should also reciprocate in a just manner for selecting a god-fearing person. The Cabinet can nominate two persons to the three-member boards in Travancore, Cochin and Malabar Devaswom Boards and so, the decision would not lead to any problem in the Boards functioning, he said.

The amendment in its original form would mean that even CPM and CPI MLAs would have to declare that they "believed in God" in case they want to force a contest for choosing one nominee each for boards which manage most of the temples across the state.

The Government has been under pressure to re-constitute three Deveswom Boards next month, especially the Travancore Devaswom Board, as the annual pilgrimage season of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is to begin in mid-November.