THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will start centralised purchase and distribution of pooja items for the 1,240 temples under it. The Kerala High Court had given a directive to implement such a scheme by April 1 but the board requested for more time to conduct a detailed study.
Till now, temples have been floating tenders and the sale of pooja items is being managed by the winning bidders.
However, there have been frequent complaints from devotees on the poor quality of the pooja items and exorbitant rates charged by the contractors.
Another important factor is that the prices differ at temples leading to a major difference in the amount of money collected by them from sale proceedings of these items.
The board has now come up with a proposal for a unified and centralised purchase of materials from vendors ensuring high quality and decent pricing.
With the quantity of materials purchased becoming high as all 1,240 temples are involved, the prices will automatically come down. However, the board is conducting a detailed study on the quantity required per month, the availability of better quality products at cheaper rates and connectivity for the purchase.
This move, according to board officials, will lead to better quality of products used at various temples under the board and provide more choices for the customer.
K P Sankaradas, member, TDB, said, “The board is finalising the proposal which will lead to a unified pricing of the pooja articles used in different temples under the jurisdiction of the board. More than that, the quality of these items will also be better than those supplied by individual contractors. We are in the process of ascertaining the volume of materials required in each temple.”
The board also plans to open high-end stores which will be fully computerised and which will maintain the quantity and quality standards of pooja items.
The board plans to utilise the services of its employees for managing the stores after holding discussions with the employee unions. This, according to the board, will be a major revenue earner for it.