Days after HR&CE Minister’s sting operation, Joint Commissioner of Tiruchendur temple transferred

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A view of Subramanya Swami Temple in Tiruchendur. File | Photo Credit: N. Rajesh

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has effected the transfer of K. Ramu, Joint Commissioner and Executive Officer of the Subramanya Swami Temple in Tiruchendur.

A. Arunachalam, Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer from the Devi Karumariamman Temple in Thiruverkadu, will replace him.

N. Yagnanarayanan, verification officer from Tiruchi region, is being posted as Deputy Commissioner at the Thiruchendur temple, filling up a vacancy.

Similarly, S. Meivel, Assistant Commissioner at Thiruchendur, is being transferred to the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, in place of P.S. Lokanathan, who has been posted to Thiruchendur.

Secretary J. Kumaragurubaran said the transfers and postings were being done with the welfare of the temple administration and the public in mind.

The transfers follow a recent sting operation by the HR&CE Minister S. Ramesh, who went incognito to the temple and caught a priest and some staffers accepting money for arranging darshan.

A retired official of the HR&CE said that the department staff had no control over the priests in the temple, and that only the trustee could question them.

In many temples, darshan was arranged by outsiders who were in cahoots with priests or low-level staffers, the retired official added.