Alappuzha: A recent vigilance report has exposed financial irregularities amounting to crores at the Alappuzha Thuravoor Mahakshethram under the Travancore Devaswom Board. The malpractices were carried out under the name of the Bhakta Jana Samiti, which managed the temple from 1992 to 2013.
Complaints have emerged regarding the missing of funds exceeding 20 lakh rupees received by the Bhakta Jana Samiti President from the Tourism Department, along with Rs 1 crore allocated by the government for an old age home.
TG Padmanabhan, a senior Congress leader and KPCC member in the Alappuzha district, was the president of the temple committee during the period. Previous inspections had already brought to light irregularities amounting to lakhs of rupees during the period 2013–18 within the temple’s management, as reported by the Kerala State Audit Department (KSAD).
An inspection ordered by the Devaswom Ombudsman and conducted by Devaswom Vigilance uncovered serious irregularities. Additionally, funds received from the Department of Tourism between 2013 and 2018 for supporting temple arts were not used for this purpose.
In 2017, the then finance minister, Thomas Isaac, allocated Rs 1 crore for the construction of an old age home. It was said that the money remained in the bank due to the project not being executed, but now there is no information about the allocated funds.
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