E-Paper
TTD dismisses fund misuse charge
Subba Reddy said seers of various mutts and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders had gone through the accounts of Srivani Trust and all other documents and expressed satisfaction over utilisation of funds
Hyderabad :Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), that manages the famous temple of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala on Friday refuted the allegations levelled by few opposition political parties over the alleged siphoning of money donated by devotees to Sri Venkateshwara Alaya Nirmana Trust (Srivani Trust).
TTD trust board chairman Y V Subba Reddy, along with executive officer A V Dharma Reddy, on Friday released a white paper on the donations received by the trust and the amount spent by it on restoration of various old temples and construction of new temples.
Speaking to reporters at Annamayya Bhavan in Tirumala, Reddy warned of a stringent legal action against those who indulge in malicious propaganda.
On last Monday, Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the TTD had been collecting donations from pilgrims in the name of Srivani Trust without giving them any receipts. “The TTD should disclose where the funds of Srivani Trust are being diverted to. Those who loot the god’s money will go to dogs,” he said.
Earlier, Jana Sena Party president and actor Pawan Kalyan, too, made a similar allegation. At a public rally held at Pithapuram in Kakinada district, Pawan said no receipts were being given for the donations made to Srivani trust in Tirumala. “Those who misuse the funds of Lord Venkateshwara will have to be punished,” he said.
Srivani Trust funds was established on August 28, 2018 with the objective to support the restoration of old temples and the construction of new temples as part of propagating Hindu dharma.
As per the resolution taken by the trust board on September 23, 2019, the TTD decided to extend the privilege of one-time VIP break darshan of Lord Venkateshwara to those who donate ₹ 10,000 each to Srivani Trust, besides another ₹ 500 towards break darshan ticket.
“Since the introduction of break darshan for Srivani Trust donors, the TTD received ₹ 860 crore till May 31 this year. More than 8.25 lakh devotees have availed of the privilege of VIP break darshan,” the TTD chairman said.
He claimed that out of the donations received by Srivani Trust, the TTD had spent ₹ 93 crore for restoration of 176 endowment and private temples. “We have also resolved to take the construction of 2,273 temples in backward areas allotting ₹ 10 lakh for each temple, out of which 1953 are taken up by the state endowments department and 320 by the Samarasata Seva Foundation,” he said.
He said the TTD was ready to clear all the doubts regarding the usage of Srivani Trust funds. “I appeal to devotees not to get carried away by the false propaganda by some vested interests regarding the misuse of Srivani Trust funds. Every single paisa donated by the devotee for the trust is being utilized in the most transparent manner,” Reddy added.
The TTD chairman said seers of various mutts and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders also had gone through the accounts of Srivani Trust and all the other documents and expressed satisfaction over the utilisation of funds.
“Before making baseless allegations, one should verify the facts as the sentiments of millions of devotees are involved in this. We will proceed legally against those in the larger interests of devotees and the reputation of the institution,” Reddy added.
Meanwhile, TDP politburo member Bonda Umamaheshwar Rao described the white paper on Srivani Trust donations as a bundle of lies. He wondered why the TTD was selling ₹10,000 tickets of Srivani Trust only offline, while all the other darshan tickets were online. “The Srivani Trust donor tickets are sold at the airport and railway stations, destroying the sanctity of Lord’s darshan,” he said.
The TDP leader said as per the statement of the TTD trust board chairman himself, 1,000 tickets were being sold for Srivani Trust donors. “Thus, the TTD has to get ₹ 365 crore every year and in the last four years, it would have got nearly ₹ 1,500 crore. How can the TTD say it has received only ₹ 860 crore? What happened to the remaining amount?” he asked.
