Coin counting at Sabarimala: Rs 11.65 cr through coin offerings during pilgrimage season

SABARIMALA: Rs 11.65 crores worth of coins were accumulated in the Sabarimala hundi (collection box) during the Mandala-Makaravilaku period. The counting of coins started on February 5 by 400 Devaswom employees and was completed yesterday morning. The coins of countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal are now to be counted. The coins collected in the old and new hundi of the Devaswom Board were counted at the Annadana Mandapam behind the Malikappuram temple.

The counting was led by 14 officials including Pathanamthitta Devaswom Deputy Commissioner Dilip Kumar, Changanassery Asst. Devaswom Commissioners Eswaran Namboothiri, MG Madhu and Abhijith. When the notes received during Mandala season were counted, Rs 357.47 crores was the collection.

No machine, cost worth crores to count coins

The Devaswom Board has no machinery to count the coins. The machine, which was in use till 2017, later broke down. Prolonged coin counting causes loss of crores. The employees tasked with coin counting should be paid traveling cost and other allowances. Temporary appointments should be made in temples to replace them. Allowance for special duty is Rs 435 to Rs 725 per day. If the duty is more than 19 days, it will increase by Rs 495 to Rs 825 depending on the grade. The total cost will come to more than one and a half crore including food, treatment system and electricity charges.