Speaking from the site of the Kollam temple fire, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the Kerala government is taking all possible steps to help those affected. "This is an incident that has shocked Kerala and the nation. The cabinet will meet at 3 pm and decide what action needs to be taken,” he said.

Observing that owing to the enforcement of the model code of conduct in the state in advance of the assembly elections, he said that the government has already approached the Election Commission for permission to take immediate relief measures. “We have asked the Election Commisison for permission to help the families,” he said. The Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy too has made an appeal to the Election Commission to ease the code of conduct so that government may sanction spending for the treatment of the injured.

He added that the government has decided to provide free treatment to all persons injured in the fire and that an air ambulance had been arranged to transport those most seriously injured to hospitals.