Thiruvananthapuram: Falling in line with the LDF government’s stand, the Travancore Devaswom Board has decided not to file a review petition against the recent Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages at Sabarimala.
A meeting of the TDB here on Wednesday also decided to make arrangements for women devotees for the coming season itself. It also estimates the number of devotees to go up by 40 per cent. TDB president A. Padmakumar and Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran had indicated on Sunday that the TDB might file a review petition at the SC.
However, Chief Min-ister Pinarayi Vijayan had strongly conveyed the government’s stand to implement the SC order immediately.
Mr Padmakumar said the decision not to file a review was based on a legal opinion and discussions among the board members. “TDB’s stand was already presented strongly before the court, and hence there was no scope for any further review,” he told reporters.
“Hence we decided to take immediate steps to implement it. We hope that this pilgrimage season could also be conducted very smoothly unless deliberate troubles were made.”
The TDB president also added that women devotees who wish to have darshan might be very well aware of the customs followed at the hill shrine. The devotees would also be aware of the hardships involved in trekking the forest path. Hence, additional measures need not be made to alleviate these. However, basic facilities like sanitation, resting and drinking water would be provided to women devotees at Sabarimala, Pumba and Nilakkal, he said.
Mr Padmakumar said that the TDB would not interfere in the ongoing protests against the SC order as some of them were deliberately triggered. He said that a meeting of TDB and police officials would be held soon to discuss security arrangements.
