VIJAYAWADA: Former chief priest AV Ramana Deekshithulu will now be the honorary chief priest of Tirumala Temple, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board of Trustees said. This decision comes after the board held a meeting on Saturday.
Speaking to mediapersons, TTD Board Chairman YV Subba Reddy said that the decision to appoint Ramana Deekshithulu as honorary Chief Priest was taken. “His role will be mostly advisory in nature and shortly orders pertaining to his responsibilities will be issued,” he said and clarified that the existing head priests in the temple will continue.
Earlier in November, TTD had appointed him as agama advisor of the devasthanam. He was also asked to train young archakas as an additional responsibility. It may be noted here that Ramana Deekshitulu and the three head priests were forced to step down on May 17, 2018, stating that they have crossed retirement age.
The chairman said the board has resolved to start a full-fledged cyber security wing in TTD and deploy a DSP level officer to head the wing. Further help from IT companies like Infosys and TCS would be taken for technical expertise. “We don’t want the image of TTD to be dented in any manner,” he said.
He said taking serious note of false news in a vernacular daily recently, TTD Board has resolved to file a criminal defamation suit against that newspaper for Rs 100 crore and observed that it will be a lesson to others.
“As discussed earlier, the Board allocated Rs 30 crore for construction of Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple and Information Centre at Bandra in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Similarly, the Board decided to construct Lord Venkateswara temple in Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of J&K has come forward to provide the required land for the temple. Similarly, it was decided to construct Lord Venkateswara Temple in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We will write a letter to Uttar Pradesh State Government requesting land for the temple,” he explained.
TTD Board chairman said it was resolved to appoint Dr. Madan Mohan Reddy, a renowned Orthopedic Surgeon working in Apollo Hospital, Chennai as the director of BIRRD (Balaji Institute of Surgery, Research, and Rehabilitation for the Disabled) run by TTD on an honorary basis.
According to TTD Board chairman, the revised estimates for the years 2019-20, which stood at Rs 3,243.19 crore were approved. The estimated budget was Rs 3,116.25 crore. “The revenue through Srivari Hundi was Rs 1,285 crore as per revised estimated and the revenue garnered out from Prasadam receipts stood at Rs 330 crore,” Subba Reddy explained.
The other important decisions taken by the TTD include administrative sanction of Rs 10 crore for RCC crash barriers and CC wall along the second ghat road. An expert opinion is being sought from IIT Chennai, JNTU, and National Highway Authority for improved roads on the Tirumala Ghat section to ensure safety and make it skid-free.
For the renovation of TTD Administrative Building in Tirupati, Rs 14.5 crore were sanctioned. It was resolved to take up gold Malam (gold covering) of the Gopuram of Sri Varahaswamy Temple in Tirumala on the banks of Swamy Pushkarni with an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore and necessary gold will be drawn from TTD Treasury. Centralized AC system for Sri Padmavati and Sri Srinivasa Kalyana Mandapams of TTD in Tirupati at a cost of Rs 3.2 crore.
TTD Board chairman said it was also decided to complete the recruitment of accounts staff, which is pending. Shortly HR policy for TTD employees will be unveiled, he added.