Trekking pilgrims to get one more free laddu from Jan 11

Tirumala: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board meeting concluded without even discussing about conducting festivals on auspicious days like New Year, Vaikunta Ekadashi in the coming year and the devotees rush. The Trust Board under the chairmanship of K Bapiraju held a meeting at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala on Saturday.

The Board instead of giving prominence to issues related to devotees or the development of the temple shrine has reportedly given importance to personal issues. The key resolutions that were taken during the board meeting among others are – The board has agreed for the purchase of 4.5 lakh kilos of cow ghee at a cost of Rs12.63 crores (from Primere Agro Foods Private Limited, Bareli)and 4.4 lakh kilos of Ravva (Sabuda) at a cost of Rs1.15 crores (from GMA Agro Foods-Hyderabad). Earlier TTD used to purchase cow ghee from Karnataka Dairy.

The board has approved Rs 28 crores towards the construction of Lord Venkateswara temple (Rs 12 crores), Lord Mahaganapathi temple (Rs 4.7 crores), Potu and other amenities (Rs 9.2 crores) and a new branch of SVBC (Rs 2.02 crores) in the land located at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

The board has given nod to issue one laddu on free of cost in addition to two subsidy laddus to the pilgrims who are coming on footpath routes from the auspicious day of Vaikuntha Ekadasi (January 11, 2014). The board has thanked AP Rice Millers Assocation for voluntarily reducing Rs 50 paisa per kilo on 17 tonnes of rice being purchased by TTD.

TTD board has resolved to continue the same body of Local Advisory Committee (LAC) in Chennai appreciating their remarkable achievements in the development of Lord Venkateswara Temple in Chennai. The board also decided to perform next phase of Managudi in all the 44,000 temples located in the State in joint collaboration with AP Endowments department.

The board has given green signal to allot Rs 5 crores towards the development sandalwood plantation in 30 acres of land in Tirumala for future needs. TTD Trust Board members continued discussions after the press meet. It was reported that the members alleged that the officials are neglecting the recommendations letters issued by the TTD Board members. The EO, MG Gopal came out of the meeting when the tickets of Srivari darshanam came to the fore.