Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has revised the list of young women who entered Sabarimala temple after the Supreme Court allowed women of all age groups to enter the hill shrine.

Revising the list of 51 submitted in the Supreme Court last week, a panel headed by Chief Secretary Tom Jose pared down the numbers to 17.

The government now admits that 30 women on the list were above the age of 50. Four men were also named on the list. These 34 names have been now removed.

The revision was initiated after first list drew flak following reports that several women in the list were above 50. Names of some men also figured in the list.

The panel, which also included the additional chief secretary (home) and the state police chief, reached the conclusion that the erroneous numbers were the result of undue haste and lack of alertness in drawing up the list submitted to the Supreme Court.

The government had submitted the list of 51 as the court was considering a plea seeking security by Kanakadurga, who had entered the temple along with Bindu. The government had told the court that the 51 had entered by registering online. The list included the names of the women along with their Aadhaar and phone numbers also.

Panel seeks an year's time

A High Court-appointed panel also said the number of young women arriving at Sabarimala cannot be estimated accurately.

The panel submitted in the court that it will take an year to organise additional facilities at Sabarimala once young women too undertake the pilgrimage.

The report was submitted in response to petitions filed by Reshma Nishant and other young women, who had attempted to visit Sabarimala, but were forced to return because of protests during the Mandalam season.

The panel said devotees use the traditional path and the Swami Ayyappan Road to reach the Sannidhanam from Pamba. “This is a steep climb. More primary facilities and drinking water need to be made available as young women also join the pilgrimage. Additional police security is also needed,” the panel said in its report.

“It will take time to organise permanent extra facilities at Pamba and Nilakkal, the base camps of Sabarimala. A master plan prepared by the Centre and approved by the state for the development of Sabarimala will have to be amended,” it added.

“Huge money is required to rebuild Pampa that was ruined in the August floods,” the report added.

The Travancore Devaswom Board has said that revenue from the Sabarimala shrine dipped due to unprecedented protests and the heightened security at the temple town in the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict.

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