THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan told the assembly that former Supreme Court judge Justice Indu Malhotra’s comment that the Hindu temples were taken over by Communist governments eying their revenue was misleading and an insult to the state. The minister said the LDF government has not tried to appropriate the income from the devaswom temples and instead it has taken up projects to assist them.
The minister added that since 2017, the government has given Rs 450 crore to five devaswom boards in the state. “During the flood and Covid, the government gave the amount to the devaswom boards, which were struggling to pay the salary and pension,” he said.
The minister further pointed out that in addition to Rs 140 crore, the government has spent Rs 118 crore from the KIIFB fund for constructing five ‘edathavalams’ for Sabarimala pilgrims, Rs 66 crore for Sabarimala master plan, Rs 3.18 crore for Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and Rs 25 lakh for Chottanikkara temple.
Justice Malhotra’s statement on the temples being taken over by the Communist government had kicked up a huge controversy. The video, which was reportedly shot outside Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, showed the former SC judge uttering comments on Communist governments’ alleged takeover of temples for monetary gains, a criticism that has often been levelled by right-wing parties.
In the undated video, Justice Malhotra was also seen saying that she and current SC Chief Justice UU Lalit had put a stop to the Communist takeover of temples.It was the bench comprising Justice Malhotra and Justice Lalit that overturned the High Court’s verdict which allowed the state to take control of the immensely rich Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.