dhraTIRUMALA: TTD counters (for tickets, laddus, accommodation, vehicle toll) managed by banks so far will be maintained by Bengaluru- based IT firm — KVM Info — from now on. The transition commenced on Thursday and is expected to be completed in another 2-3 weeks. In all, 164 counters across Tirumala, Tiruchanoor and Tirupati will be handed over to the firm, which will provide manpower and infrastructure to provide a transparent and accountable system.
The change will not have any impact on the cost of the services being provided, officials said. KVM Info will supply the manpower by providing a minimum wage of Rs 11,350 per employee. In total, 425 staff will be deployed to man 164 counters meant to collect toll fee at Alipiri; issue free darshan token issue counter and Rs 300 current booking tickets; and allot rooms in Srinivasam, Vishnu Nivasam and other guest houses in Tirupati. All the counters since their existence were run by nationalised banks.
Some were run by private bodies for some time, but were later handed over to the banks. The banks were in favour of operating them as the money collected could be directly deposited as fixed deposits. However, over a period of time, several cases of malpractice were reported. “As many as 130 such cases of malpractice have been registered. In 32 cases, the accused were convicted and many cases are under trial. Hand of the hired staff by the banks is suspected in the Rs 300 Sheeghra Darshan ticket scam... Most importantly, the service provider will be held accountable for any irregularity,” said Additional EO AV Dharma Reddy.