Ramana Deekshitulu Back As Tirumala Pradhana Archaka

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board met under the chairmanship of Y V Subba Reddy at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala on Saturday.

The board discussed multiple issues elaborately in the meeting.

It was decided that the services of Dr A V Ramana Deekshitulu would be taken in the Srivari temple as Pradhana Archaka on an honorary basis.

While the estimated budget for the 2019-20 financial year was Rs 3,116.25 crore, the revised estimate for the year stood at Rs 3,243.19 crore. The revenue through the Srivari Hundi was estimated at Rs 1,231 crore, and the revised estimate was Rs 1,285 crore. And the revenue from the prasadam receipts was recorded as Rs 330 crore as against the estimated amount of Rs 270 crore.

Rs 10 crore was sanctioned for providing RCC crash barriers and a CC wall along the Second Ghat Road. Expert opinion was invited from IIT Chennai and JNTU experts on the laying of CC pavements for both the ghat roads.

Gold malam works for the vimanam of the Sri Varaha Swamy temple at an estimated cost of Rs 14 crore was approved, and the necessary gold will be drawn from the TTD treasury. Also, Rs 14.50 crore was sanctioned towards the renovation of the TTD Administrative Building in Tirupati.

Rs 30 crore was sanctioned for the construction of a Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple and Information Centre at Bandra, Mumbai.

It was also decided to provide a centralized AC system for the Sri Padmavathi and Sri Srinivasa Kalyana Mandapams of the TTD in Tirupati at a cost of Rs 3.20 crore.

It was disclosed that the Jammu government had come forward to provide land for the construction of a Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in that State. Similarly, the government of UP had also requested the TTD to construct a Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple after being provided an appropriate place.

The board also decided to file a criminal defamation suit against a vernacular paper for Rs 100 crore for publishing "false" news which "affected the sentiments of millions of devotees".

It also agreed to the deployment of a DSP level officer to monitor the cyber security wing in the TTD.

TTD EO Anil Kumar Singhal, Secretary to Government of AP (Land, Revenue and DM) Usha Rani, Endowments Commissioner Padma, the TUDA Chairman, Chandragiri legislator C Bhaskar Reddy and other board members, and some special invitees, were also present.