Tirupati MP Dr. M. Gurumurthy Pushes for City's Upgrading to Category Y

Tirupati: Tirupati MP Dr M. Gurumurthy on Thursday appealed to the Union government in Parliament to upgrade the temple city's category from Z to Y. This upgrade will benefit more than 12,000 Central government employees working and living in Tirupati.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Parliament, Dr Gurumurthy informed that despite Tirupati's immense progress in recent decades and it transforming into a world-class city, especially in the last five years, it continues to be categorised as a Z category city. He pointed out that the population in the city has crossed 10 lakhs. In addition, over one lakh devotees from across India and the world visit the temple city daily. This has made Tirupati one of the costliest cities to live in the country.

However, over 12,000 Central government employees posted in Tirupati get paid the lowest category of House Rent Allowance (HRA). This is unfair as they reside in one of India's costliest places, the MP argued. “Upgrading Tirupati's categorisation to Y will make central government staff posted there eligible for a higher HRA and other benefits. It will provide them much-needed relief from the high living costs”, Dr Gurumurthy explained.

In his appeal, the Tirupati MP highlighted the city's development in recent times. He informed the parliament about the world-class infrastructure that has come up in Tirupati. He also highlighted the temple city's immense religious importance. Expressing confidence that the upgrade will be approved soon by the union government, Gurumurthy said the move will benefit thousands of central staff and boost Tirupati's development further.