‘TTD Chairman did not violate norms by visiting temple’

Contract of sanitation staff extended by a month

04/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUPATI

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) management has brushed aside the allegations that doing the rounds in a section of the media that trust board Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy got the Venkateswara temple opened on Friday and had darshan on his birthday.

In a release, the TTD has maintained that the temple opens everyday during the lockdown period and the mandatory rituals are being performed in ‘ekantam’ (private).

“Vested with the powers to supervise the rituals in the TTD temples, Mr. Subba Reddy, along with his mother and spouse, visited Tirumala on May 1 as part of the task entrusted to him,” the release said.

As a practice that has been followed since years, the TTD Trust Board Chairman participates in the ‘Abhishekams’ on two Fridays a month. Coincidentally, May 1 (Friday) was his birthday, the release explained.

The TTD management has also refuted the alleged removal of 1,300 sanitary workers. The release clarified that the term of the sanitary facilitation contractor ended on April 30 and no tender proceedings were pursued during the lockdown period as per the court directions.

However, the TTD has extended the contract period for one more month on humanitarian grounds, the release added.