Will reach uncovered States to build temples: TTD chairperson B.R. Naidu

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board chairperson B.R. Naidu on Wednesday (November 5) announced to include hitherto uncovered States in the network of Sri Venkateswara temples. Mr. Naidu, who completed one year in office as the chairperson of the prestigious temple board, unveiled his road map for the second year at a media conference held in Hyderabad, along with members Panabaka Lakshmi, B. Mahendhar Reddy, Nannuri Narsi Reddy and Anumula Ranga, when he explained the steps meant for expanding the temple network. In tune with Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s vision, Assam’s first TTD temple on ten acres tops the list of national expansion, while negotiations are on with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for building new temples. “International temples will also be considered using the ₹2,000 crore corpus from Sri Venkateswara Temple Construction Trust,” he explained. Apart from the plan to have TTD temples in all State capitals, Mr. Naidu termed as ‘historic’ the decision to build 5,000 temples in Dalit, tribal hamlets and fisherfolk colonies in Andhra Pradesh. Referring to his one-year term, Mr. Naidu recalled the steps taken during his first year to restore the temple’s sanctity, such as taking strict measures against political speeches, negative propaganda and hate campaign aimed at hurting devotee sentiments, complete overhaul of the Annaprasadam division by including premium raw materials to ensure hygiene and taste, removal of non-Hindu employees in line with legal provisions and enhancing the Laddu Prasadam production capacity from 3-3.5 lakh to 4.4.5 lakh per day. On safeguarding assets, Mr. Naidu mentioned that the 25 acres of land nestled under the Tirumala hills had been reclaimed from the Department of Tourism to ensure its sanctity, with amendments made to the religious laws to restrict the region to spiritual events and barring commercial events. In the wake of unsuspecting pilgrims falling victim to cybercrimes, the TTD has proposed a ‘cyber security lab’ to curb online frauds in fake darshan bookings, while an advisory is being circulated across social media platforms to use only the TTD’s official website for all services. Mr. Naidu recalled that 100 electric buses had been proposed under PM’s Drive Scheme via the Union Ministry for Heavy Industries, to be plied on the Tirumala ghat road to ensure Tirumala’s pristine nature.