TTD initiates action against 18 Christian employees
The order barred the 18 employees from attending all religious and spiritual events organised by the board.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has taken action against 18 employees who worked at various institutions run by the board which manages the famous Tirumala Temple because they were allegedly practising Christianity despite taking an oath to follow Hindu dharma and traditions, officials said on Wednesday.
The order barred the 18 employees – all Christians who worked as lecturers, hostel workers, office subordinates, engineers, helpers, nurses and other paramedical staff in various institutions run by TTD – from attending all religious and spiritual events organised by the board.
Temple authorities also asked the staff to check if the 18 employees were posted in Tirumala, any temple or any religious programme-related work or posts, and remove them immediately if they were.
None of the employees worked in the main Tirumala temple that attracts nearly 70,000 devotees every day and is considered one of the main nodes of Hindu pilgrimage spots.
The 18 employees were “practising and participating in non-Hindu religious activities” despite taking an oath that they would only follow Hindu “dharma and traditions”, the order, issued on February 1, said.
All TTD employees are committed to maintaining the sanctity of the temple by upholding the traditions and values that have been followed for centuries and beliefs and sentiments of the devotees, the order said. The order was signed by J Shyamala Rao, the chief executive officer of the TTD, which is the official custodian of Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati.
“It has been proved that these 18 TTD employees are practising and participating in non-Hindu religious activities, though they have taken the oath before the image and idol of Lord Venkateswara stating that they would follow the Hindu dharma and Hindu traditions only. They also took the oath stating that they will not follow non-Hindu religious activities in compliance with the endowment rules,” the order said.
HT has seen a copy of the order.
In his order, Rao further asked the chief engineer and deputy executive officer to verify the present postings of the employees. “If any of the above employees presently working in the above said posts/places, they will be transferred from such religiously sensitive places immediately,” the order said.
Instances of the 18 employees practising “non-Hindu religious activities demeaning” the prestige of the TTD had come to the fore “hence, they are barred from participating in the religious functions of the TTD,” Rao said.
The board mandated that at the time of joining TTD institutions, employees take an oath that they will follow the Hindu dharma and Hindu traditions only, and that they will not follow non-Hindu religious activities in compliance with Rule 9 (vi) of the Service Rules issued in G.O.Ms. No. 1060 Revenue (Endowments-1), dated 24.10.1989.
“Yet, they continued to practise their religion, in violation of the oath,” an official said requesting anonymity.
The 18 employees “regularly go to churches and some of them even carry Bible with them” while working in the institutions run by the TTD, he said. These employees had been in service for several years, the official said.
At the TTD trust board meeting held on November 18, 2024, it was resolved that non-Hindus working in the temple administration in various capacities would be surrendered to the government. As per a 2018 report, there are 44 employees of other religious faiths working in the TTD.
“We shall write to the state government for taking an appropriate decision about the non-Hindus working in Tirumala. The TTD is a Hindu religious institution and the board felt that it should not employ non-Hindus to work in the temple. We shall write to the government to either absorb them in various other departments or offer them a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS),” TTD chairman B R Naidu told reporters after the trust board meeting.
Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh, who backed the TTD’s decision, said: “There is no second thought about it. We spoke about it before the polls and we stand by it. We will take it to (a) logical conclusion.”
Similarly, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also said that his party has no objections to the action taken by TTD. “It is being reported that Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has identified 18 employees that are not following Hindu traditions or are non-Hindu. TTD argues that since it is a Hindu institution, non-Hindus shouldn’t be employed by it. We have no objection to it,” he said on X.