Efforts will be made to regain trust of devotees, says new TDB chief

Thiruvananthapuram: The newly appointed president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), on Saturday said the administrative panel led by him would take corrective measures to restore and retain the trust of devotees.

After swearing in as the TDB chief for the next two years at the board headquarters here, K Jayakumar said he was aware of the issues plaguing the Board's functioning and that was his personal strength to go forward.

"I will act on such issues," he told reporters after the swearing-in function.

Responding to questions on the ongoing controversies at Sabarimala, including the recent loss of gold, Jayakumar said stringent measures would be taken to prevent any undesirable activities in the administration of the Board.

"It is true that there is a trust deficit. There is no doubt that the news reports coming each day cause a severe pain in the minds of devotees," he said.

"But, how has this trust of devotees been breached? Because some undesirable things are happening there. The administrative panel which leads the Board should take a firm decision not to allow any such things there," the TDB president added.

He also said his desire is to make the administration of the TDB completely transparent.

Asked about the ongoing preparations at Sabarimala ahead of the upcoming Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season beginning on November 17, Jayakumar said he would visit the hill shrine on Sunday and would hold a review meeting in this regard.

"Steps will be taken to do correct and appropriate things for devotees and retain their trust. Strong measures will be taken to regulate illegal things," he added.

Besides Jayakumar, senior CPI leader and former minister K Raju was sworn in as the member of the TDB.

A former chief secretary, Jayakumar had been appointed as the new president of the TDB as the tenure of the board led by P S Prasanth was over.

Jayakumar had served as Devaswom Special Commissioner at Sabarimala for a year during his tenure in government service.

After retiring as Kerala Chief Secretary, he also served as the founding Vice-Chancellor of Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University.

The government appointed the former bureaucrat to the top post of the temple body following a political controversy over the loss of gold in the Sabarimala temple.

TDB manages hundreds of temples including major shrines like Sabarimala.