SABARIMALA: The Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham (ABASS) has urged Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to withdraw he three-to-four times hike in accommodation rates in Sabarimala, especially the tariff on dormitories.
Talking to Express on Wednesday, ABASS general secretary N Velayudhan Nair said, the steep hike this season has attracted criticism from various quarters, yet the TDB has found not to be budging.
He said the revised tariff seems to be unreasonable as majority of the pilgrims belong to BPL (below poverty line) category, and it would be beyond their capacity to meet the rates.
He said the three eight-storey buildings and the dormitories near Malikappuram are commonly known as the ‘pilgrim centres’, and the hike here has been massive, from `300 to `900 for the first 12 hours and 50 per cent additional charges for the next six hours. There’s an extra amount of `50 on each pilgrim hidden if the number of inmates in a dormitory crosses beyond the capacity of 12, he said, adding that all these hikes have been imposed without considering the convenience here. The floor and the toilets have been left broken, without doing timely repairs, he said. According to reports, the occupants in the dormitories are not given cots or sheets. As the floors are broken, dust and filth gather here, and the pilgrims would find it difficult to sleep here.
The hike will also affect the inmates of the donor houses. It is four to five times when compared with the dormitories.
Nair said that the TDB has no moral right to make such decisions unilaterally as the donor houses have been built with donations given by the devotees of Ayyappa.
According to the functionaries of ABASS, Devaswom employees at the office do not return the security deposit taken from most of the pilgrims when they vacate the place and return the key. The deposit amount varies from `200 to `500. The staff are alleged as saying some reason and refuse the payment. The ABASS has, however, decided to submit a memorandum to both the CM and the Devaswom Minister seeking intervention in the matter, Nair said.