Establish digitised inventory system for Sabarimala assets, HC tells TDB
The Kerala High Court has ordered the Travancore Devaswom Board to implement a digitized inventory management system for all assets at Sabarimala. This directive follows concerns regarding procurement transparency and the lack of technical documentation for recent asset purchases.
Why it matters
Ensuring financial accountability in religious institutions is a significant governance issue in India, particularly regarding public procurement.
The Kerala High Court has directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to establish a comprehensive, systematic, and preferably digitised inventory management system for all consumable and non-consumable assets maintained at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam and allied establishments.
It further directed the Chief Engineer and the Executive Engineer of the Sabarimala Development Project to ensure that every statutory requirement, financial rule, and procedural safeguard governing public procurement is scrupulously complied with, before finalising purchases.
A Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar passed the directives while considering the approval for the contract to supply 1,000 double-decker mild steel cots for daily wage staff deployed at the Sannidhanam and the queries raised by the Audit department in this regard. The total estimate for the purchase was ₹1.66 crore, for which the TDB had granted administrative sanction.
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