Except those who perform rituals in a move to bring administration of shrines under a tighter leash.

Signalling its intention to bring the temple administration in the State under a tighter leash, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has decided to entrust recruitment of hands, other than those who perform rituals, to the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC).

The State Cabinet on Wednesday decided to introduce a Bill in the Kerala Assembly, which would have a short session beginning on September 26, to facilitate recruitment from a common eligibility list to be prepared by the PSC.

The decision comes amidst a continuing stand-off between the CPI(M) and its allies on the one side and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its feeder organisations on the other over matters connected with management of temples and allowing entry of women at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.

The Hindu Aikyavedi, an organisation under the Sangh Parivar umbrella, is in the forefront of the campaign against the LDF government over issues of temple rituals and faith.

The organisation staged a sit-in by leaders of various like-minded outfits in front of the Secretariat on Wednesday alleging that the LDF government was being privy to efforts to destroy the very foundations of faith at Sabarimala and other temples.

At present, recruitment of ministerial and administrative employees of temples is made by the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board. The board was constituted based on the recommendations of a single member commission comprising former Kerala High Court judge K.S. Paripoornan on the alleged corruption and malpractices in the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

The previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government had brought the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board into being with chairman and five members through an Ordinance in 2014.

A Bill to replace the Ordinance was passed by the State Assembly in 2015.

Once the new Bill leaving recruitment to Devaswoms to the PSC is enacted, the present recruitment board will cease to exist.