PATHANAMTHITTA: It has been found that the reports of the internal auditing conducted on the Travancore Devaswom Board following allegations of financial irregularities were hoarded. Devaswom Vigilance has sought an explanation from the officials concerned for not submitting the reports.

The Finance and Accounts Officers were assigned to conduct the auditing following allegations of financial irregularities in the board's Kollam, Karunagappally and Vaikom groups. It is reported that there was an irregularity of Rs 50 lakh in all the three groups combined. As the Devaswom Board was facing a huge financial crisis, the authorities decided to find irregularities and collect fines from the culprits. The audit reports were hoarded to undermine this move. The officials who conducted the auditing and those who were involved in the irregularities are no longer working in the respective institutions. The auditing started in the first week of January this year.

The vigilance has sought an explanation from the officials who did not submit the report within the stipulated time. An action could not be taken against those found guilty in some of the reports submitted to the Finance Department. The action is delayed because these reports have not been submitted to the board.