Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

TTD opens bio-metric counter

By Our Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI April 13 . As part of its efforts to curb blackmarketeering and other malpractices in the sale of the much-sought-after "Arjitha Seva'' (paid seva) tickets, the TTD has adopted the principle of bio-metrics, an emerging branch of science', to operate the ticket counters.

Under the system, the thumb impression of the pilgrims who buy the tickets to attend the sevas in the Tirumala hill temple, such as Suprabhatham, Thomala Seva, Archana, PKU and SD Seva, are recorded at the counters and digitally transmitted to the Vaikuntam queue complex, entry point into the temple. When the ticket-holder produces his ticket at the queue complex, his thumb impression will be verified. Unless it tallied, the pilgrim will not be allowed to enter the temple. According to the TTD's joint executive officer, Tirumala, P. Balasubramanyam, such a foolproof system had become imperative to check the touts. A Rs. 100 seva ticket is sold by them for a for a hefty Rs.500 or Rs.600 on peak days.

The system was introduced today after a brief ceremony in the current booking counter of Vijaya Bank, Tirumala, which has been selling the seva tickets on behalf of the TTD for the last several years. The Andhra Pradesh Minister for I.T.-enabled Services, B. Gopalakrishna Reddy, inaugurated the counter by recording his thumb impression before entering the temple through the queue complex.

The JEO, Tirumala, said that depending on the success of the system, it would be introduced in the general darshan queue also, replacing the "Sudarsanam'' token system. If could gradually be extended to major cities and all district headquarter towns of the State.

The Sudarsanam tokens are computerised bar-coded wrist-bands given to pilgrims at the special counters at Tirupati and Tirumala, broadly indicating the time when he or she could have darshan.

It was conceived to save the pilgrims the ordeal of waiting for hours in long queues.

Mr. Balasubramanyam said the ultimate aim of the TTD was to arrange for booking a darshan from anywhere in the country through the TTD's computer network.

This would avoid unnecessary crowding of pilgrims on the hills and an enormous burden on the TTD's various systems and sub-systems.

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