In a major move, the newly-constituted trust board of the popular Tirumala temple has decided to dispense with the services of all non-Hindus working under its jurisdiction and surrender them to the Andhra Pradesh government for redeployment in other departments.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous body that manages the affairs of the country’s richest temple, has proposed that only Hindus should be allowed to work in Tirumala.
The decision was taken at the first meeting of the revamped TTD trust board, headed by its chairman BR Naidu, held at Annamayya Bhavan in Tirumala. Incidentally, this was the first meeting of the TTD after the recent controversy over the adulteration of ghee used for the preparation of “laddu prasadam”.
Briefing the reporters after the board meeting, Naidu, a media baron who owns the Telugu TV channel “TV 5”, said that the TTD will assess the total number of non-Hindus working in the temple administration in various capacities and surrender them to the government.
As per a 2018 report, there are 44 employees of other religious faiths working in the TTD.
Soon after taking over the charge early this month, Naidu had made it clear that Hindus alone should be allowed to work in Tirumala.
“We shall write to the state government for taking an appropriate decision about the non-Hindus working in Tirumala. The TTD is a Hindu religious institution and the board felt that it should not employ non-Hindus to work in the temple. We shall write to the government to either absorb them in various other departments or offer them a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS),” Naidu said.
In the wake of the recent controversy over the adulteration of ghee, the TTD resolved to constitute a committee to monitor the quality of ghee used in the preparation of Tirumala laddus and other prasadams from time to time.
“We have also decided to introduce one more tasty item in the everyday menu at the Anna Prasadam complex, where free food is provided to the devotees after darshan of Lord Venkateshwara,” the TTD chairman said.
Earlier this year, there was a massive controversy when the ruling TDP-led government raised doubts about the “purity” of the ingredients used in the laddu ‘prasadam’ at the Tirumala Venkateswara temple.
The Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had made public the lab reports that showed that the laddus, offered to the deity before being distributed among devotees, were contaminated with animal and vegetable fat.
TTD says ‘no’ to political statements
The board further decided to ban leaders of various political parties from making political statements on Tirumala hills.
Noting that politicians give statements or speeches after praying at the temple, the TTD board has banned such statements or speeches in Tirumala, regardless of political affiliation. “Action will be taken legally if needed against such persons as well those who propagate them,” the TTD official said.
Another important decision taken by the trust board is to transfer all the cash deposits of the TTD from private banks into the nationalised banks. “Keeping in view the safety of TTD deposits, a formal decision will be taken at the next trust board meeting to deposit them in the nationalised banks by withdrawing the already deposited ones from private banks,” Naidu said.
Reducing 'Darshan' time
The hill shrine, one of the busiest in the country, attracts, on an average, 70,000 to 80,000 pilgrims every day and the number crosses one lakh on festivals and special occasions. It’s a long wait for the darshan of the Lord Venkateswara, which can sometimes stretch up to 20 hours.
The Board has decided to set up a panel of experts to suggest an action plan to reduce darshan time to two-three hours. The panel of experts will be asked to suggest ways to decongest and streamline devotees using Artificial Intelligence and other technology tools.
The Board has also decided to dispense with the AP Tourism Corporation’s ‘Darshan’ quota of various states after a thorough examination of complaints regarding irregularities in the issue of special entry tickets under this category.
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