A body corporate for Malabar's temples, and the Act of 1951 they are still under: the Malabar Devaswom Board

Background

The Kerala State Temple Employees Coordination Committee has pressed for full institutional autonomy for the Malabar Devaswom Board, which puts the Board's own legal shape back in question. Temples in the Malabar region are still governed by the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951, which is Madras Act No. 19 of 1951 and was written for the better administration of Hindu religious and charitable institutions and endowments. Section 7 of that Act, as substituted by the amending Act of 2008, directs the Government to constitute a Board by notification in the Gazette by the name of the Malabar Devaswom Board. The Act makes that Board a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, able to hold and dispose of property and to enter into contracts. It also defines the "Malabar area" as the area comprised in the Malabar District referred to in the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. A member of the Board resigns by writing to the Government Secretary in charge of the Devaswom Department. At present the Board has no powers and trustees handle temple affairs, and the Assembly has passed an amending Bill meant to give the Board institutional autonomy.