Employees face scrutiny as vigilance probe widens into alleged irregularities in TTD during YSRC rule

TIRUPATI: The vigilance and enforcement department has reportedly issued show cause notices to nearly 50 employees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), including those from the engineering department. This action comes as part of an extensive investigation into the alleged irregularities within the renowned temple trust over the past five years.

The probe, which was initiated following Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s announcement to streamline and clean up the TTD, has been underway for over a month. Special teams from the vigilance and enforcement wing have been examining multiple departments within the TTD, scrutinising records and focusing on temple trust’s activities over the past five years.

According to sources close to the investigation, the teams are scrutinising several key areas of concern, including the operations of the SRIVANI Trust: The processes involved in receiving donations and issuing VIP break darshan and the construction of new temples across the two Telugu states using the trust funds.

The allocation of VIP break darshan and Arjitha Seva tickets under the discretionary quota, as well as issuance of shop and hawker licences and renewal at Tirumala are also being examined.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that two superintendent-level officers who worked at the additional EO’s camp office, and assistant executive and superintendent rank officers from the revenue department were questioned for several hours by the vigilance teams.

The engineering works undertaken during the previous YSRC government's tenure have come under particular scrutiny. An insider said, “Hundreds of crores of rupees allocated for various unplanned engineering works in the past five years have come under the scanner. There are allegations that many of these works were initiated solely to benefit contractors backed by the erstwhile YSRC government”.

As part of the probe, the vigilance and enforcement department has issued show cause notices to several employees, seeking additional information and explanations for their involvement in certain projects. However, the issuance of show cause notices has sparked controversy. Tirupati YSRC MP Dr Maddila Gurumurthy has criticised the action, describing it as a malicious attempt to intimidate the TTD employees.

The YSRC leader has questioned the motive behind the probe, suggesting it stems from political rivalries rather than genuine concerns about irregularities. “The show cause notices are not only humiliating the TTD employees but degrade the reputation of the temple body. The investigators possibly issued notices to over 50 employees only to appease higher-ups in the government", he said.

Gurumurthy warned that he will bring the matter to the attention of Parliament if the TTD senior officials and the NDA coalition government do not cease what he terms as harassment policies.