TDB temple staff to enjoy service benefits

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The temple employees of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will soon enjoy service benefits almost equivalent to that of government employees. The committee constituted by the board for the purpose is busy charting out the modalities of amending the TDB Temple Employees Service Rules which came into effect in 1972.‘’The committee held its first sitting last week.The modification in rules will be finalised in another two sittings and the report carrying the recommendations will be submitted to the board before May 31,’’ said N Vasu, TDB Commissioner and chairman of the committee.Though several changes were effected in the service rules of temple employees since 1972, the absence of a consolidated set of rules was a cause of concern to the board.The board has around 3,500 employees in the temple employee category which includes the posts of santhi, kazhakam, thali, vocal and instrumental performers and watcher.While the nearly 3,000 establishment section employees of the board enjoy service benefits on a par with the government employees, the temple employees are governed by old set of rules which deny them several privileges.For instance, the temple employees do not have the option to avail of half-pay leave.Though earned leave came into effect some time ago, the employees now have to opt for ‘extraordinary leave,’ according to the present set of rules.Also, the existing rules have included suspension under the punishment category which is even against the principles of natural justice.‘’A specific set of rules will be mooted for disciplinary action.We will propose to include increment bar among the rules for disciplinary action,’’ Vasu said.The karanma employees who are governed by a separate set of rules will also benefit from the new rules as their leave benefits are similar to that of temple employees.The new rules, after getting the concurrence of the board, will be notified before coming into effect.