VISHAKHAPATNAM: Telugu Desam state organising secretary Bucchi Ram Prasad from Guntur charged that government appears to be cheating public on the pretext of feeding cows at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Speaking to reporters at the party's central office in Mangalagiri on Sunday, Prasad quoted a report of TTD mentioning that the board is spending ₹2.4 lakh per day on cattle feed.
“How many cows are there and how much is being spent on each cow? TTD should disclose the number of cows. They should be open to public,” Prasad observed.
He quoted TTD’s statement revealing that total 5.68 lakh devotees visited Tirumala during the Tirumala Brahmotsavam. The statement went on to mention that 21.6 lakh people had been fed. This figure does not tally with the number of visitors, Prasad felt. “Generally, devotees have food only twice a day. Going by the given figures, devotees having four meals per day is questionable,” he underlined.
The TD leader accused the state government of using hundis in the temple as ATM machines. “What is the benefit of installing ACs and furniture in temples with donations put in hundis by devotees,” he asked. He suggested that hundi collections be used for only donating food, in kitchens, repairs of queue lines and renovation of the temple.
Prasad said it is unfair to increase the fee for Abhishekam to ₹5000 when it is ₹700 at Kanipakam temple.
"The government is looting temples in the state. Even Swaroopa Nandendra Swamy, head of Sri Sarada Peetham in Vizag, has expressed impatience with the government,” he pointed out.
