Hyderabad, Aug 29 (PTI) The committee managing the affairs of the revered shrine of Lord
Venkateswara in Tirupati has come under a cloud following allegations
of a series of scandals in recent times.
One scandal after the other has rocked the Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams (TTD) over the last six years. Various committees probing
the alleged irregularities in administration of the world's richest
temple also submitted adverse reports and recommended necessary
corrective measures.From
the demolition of historic "veyi kaalla mandapam" (thousand-pillar
auditorium), the case of missing gold dollars and alleged
"disappearance" of gold ornaments presented to the Lord by Emperor
Srikrishna Devaraaya over 500 years ago, the controversies are too
many, says a bureaucrat who held a responsible position previously in
the TTD.Add to this the recent case of alleged sale of 'arjita
seva' (special worship) tickets in black market, the row over special
treatment given to celebrities and the controversy on allocation of
land on the Tirumala Hills to corporate houses for construction of
private guest houses."In the ages of its existence, the Balaji
temple -- as it is popularly known -- had never seen so many
controversies that it had come to be attached with in the last six
years," the bureaucrat lamented. All this, however, elicited the same
response from the Andhra Pradesh government and TTD: "There is nothing
amiss."Political parties barring the Congress, religious groups
and groups of devotees have been vociferously raising the issues. The
opposition accused the Congress government of not taking any concrete
step to improve the situation. Several officials, including
Officer-on-Special Duty A V Dharma Reddy, are being accused by parties
and various groups of being responsible for many of the ills in TTD.In
cases like illegal sale of arjita seva tickets and purchase of plasma
television sets at "exorbitant" rates, Dharma Reddy is the man at whom
the finger of accusation is being pointed at. TDP leader Payyavula
Keshav also takes objection to appointment of IPS officer M K Singh as
the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, claiming that "he was
strongly censured by the state High Court on the charges of sexual
abuse".The Rosaiah government has now appointed a three-member
authority headed by Special Chief Secretary J Satyanarayana to oversee
TTD's work. Though all opposition parties in the state are firm on a
demand for a CBI inquiry into the TTD affairs, Endowments Minister Gade
Venkata Reddy has rejected it. The government is yet to act on a report
submitted by the Vigilance Department on various issues related to TTD.
On the orders of the High Court, it has handed over the case of seva
tickets to the state CID. "Any further action will be taken based on
the inquiry reports," Venkata Reddy said.
--
Mahi
Venkateswara in Tirupati has come under a cloud following allegations
of a series of scandals in recent times.
One scandal after the other has rocked the Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams (TTD) over the last six years. Various committees probing
the alleged irregularities in administration of the world's richest
temple also submitted adverse reports and recommended necessary
corrective measures.From
the demolition of historic "veyi kaalla mandapam" (thousand-pillar
auditorium), the case of missing gold dollars and alleged
"disappearance" of gold ornaments presented to the Lord by Emperor
Srikrishna Devaraaya over 500 years ago, the controversies are too
many, says a bureaucrat who held a responsible position previously in
the TTD.Add to this the recent case of alleged sale of 'arjita
seva' (special worship) tickets in black market, the row over special
treatment given to celebrities and the controversy on allocation of
land on the Tirumala Hills to corporate houses for construction of
private guest houses."In the ages of its existence, the Balaji
temple -- as it is popularly known -- had never seen so many
controversies that it had come to be attached with in the last six
years," the bureaucrat lamented. All this, however, elicited the same
response from the Andhra Pradesh government and TTD: "There is nothing
amiss."Political parties barring the Congress, religious groups
and groups of devotees have been vociferously raising the issues. The
opposition accused the Congress government of not taking any concrete
step to improve the situation. Several officials, including
Officer-on-Special Duty A V Dharma Reddy, are being accused by parties
and various groups of being responsible for many of the ills in TTD.In
cases like illegal sale of arjita seva tickets and purchase of plasma
television sets at "exorbitant" rates, Dharma Reddy is the man at whom
the finger of accusation is being pointed at. TDP leader Payyavula
Keshav also takes objection to appointment of IPS officer M K Singh as
the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, claiming that "he was
strongly censured by the state High Court on the charges of sexual
abuse".The Rosaiah government has now appointed a three-member
authority headed by Special Chief Secretary J Satyanarayana to oversee
TTD's work. Though all opposition parties in the state are firm on a
demand for a CBI inquiry into the TTD affairs, Endowments Minister Gade
Venkata Reddy has rejected it. The government is yet to act on a report
submitted by the Vigilance Department on various issues related to TTD.
On the orders of the High Court, it has handed over the case of seva
tickets to the state CID. "Any further action will be taken based on
the inquiry reports," Venkata Reddy said.
--
Mahi
