Keralam govt. rolls back controversial decision to restore Punyam Poonkavanam project in Sabarimala

File photo of the Punyam Poonkavanam cleaning drive in Sabarimala. The Keralam government has recalled its decision to reintroduce the controversial Punyam Poonkavanam project at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, which had been earlier stopped by the Kerala High Court.The government had ordered the restoration of the project on July 24, 2026, while absolving P. Vijayan, Additional Director General of Police, also the former nodal officer of the community-policing project, of all the allegations levelled against him in an inquiry report prepared by M.R. Ajithkumar, a former Chief Police Coordinator of Sabarimala and Additional Director General of Police.Minhaj Alam, Additional Chief Secretary, had permitted the project to continue as he found that Punyam Poonkavanam was “an exemplary community initiative by the Kerala Police in Sabarimala”.Directive overlookedHowever, the government order apparently overlooked a directive of the Devaswom Bench of the court, which had asked the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and the police to issue an advisory to Sabarimala pilgrims that the project was not part of the Police Bandobast Scheme from the Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival season of 2023-24. The court also did not want the name of the project to be used for any activity connected with Sabarimala temple.The Hindu had reported last month that the restoration of the project ran the risk of violating the court order. Subsequently, on August 2, the State government issued an erratum deleting the portion “granting permission to continue” to the project “since it is an exemplary community initiative by the Kerala Police in Sabarimala” from its earlier order.Silent on findingsMeanwhile, judicial sources indicated that the government order exonerating the police officer was conspicuously silent on the other findings in the inquiry report, especially the reported illegal collection of funds from within and outside the country.The other findings of financial irregularities and fraud in the report also warranted a probe by an investigation agency and not by a government official, as done by the government, judicial sources indicated.The inquiry report submitted to the Kerala High Court had stated that photographs of several High Court judges, higher government officials, film stars and celebrities collecting waste from a point at Sannidhanam were used in the brochures and notices of the project. The pictures were used to create an impression of authenticity for the project among the public, which helped those associated with the project find new associates and unofficially raise contributions in cash and kind. The cloth bags donated by a jewellery group to be freely distributed to devotees were reportedly sold through various shops, it was reported.Extension of activitiesThe report also noted that the activities of the project were extended to other States and countries with the help of private individuals, though the “Kerala Police department does not have the authority to extend such activities beyond its territorial jurisdiction, and the Kerala Police or Government of Kerala has not issued any orders or directions” to extend the activities beyond its jurisdiction in other States and outside the country. Such activities were beyond any government orders regarding the Sabarimala festival, it said.Several units of Punyam Poonkavanam were started in other parts of Keralam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and New Delhi and in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Singapore and Malaysia, which were beyond the scope and authority of the police department, it was reported. Published - August 25, 2026 07:34 pm IST