Andhra Pradesh

TTD board approves Rs.44-crore works

TIRUMALA. The TTD Board of Trustees, which met here on Tuesday, approved various developmental works to be taken up at both Tirumala and Tirupathi at an estimated cost of Rs.44 crore.

The works include construction of four air-conditioned Kalyana mandapams at Alipiri,Tirupathi, purchase of 30 103-inches plasma television sets at Rs.10.65 crores to be installed at the Vaikuntam queue complex, reconstruction of the TTD’s Pedda Jeeyar Mutt at a cost of Rs.3.25 crore and modernisation of its press building at a cost of over Rs.5 crore.

Briefing media persons later, TTD Chairman B. Karunakar Reddy said that the board had also resolved to provide a mobile dispensary for every 500 metres on the tedious 7-km stretch of the footpath leading to Tirumala hills.

It also decided to construct a highly modernised cell with the state-of-art technology to collect and preserve hair offered by devotees.

This, in turn, would fetch more revenue for the management as human hair had a vast market potential in the Western and European countries. The management hoped to over Rs.200 crore this year by way of sale of human hair.

The board also decided to regularise the services of 95 home guards in the cadre of attenders and watchmen and extend time scale benefits to 42 workers in its broad casting section besides merging the services of employees working in all the sub-temples under its control subject to ratification by the State government.

To encourage research works on the saint poet Annamayya and Tarigonda Vengamamba, a fellowship of Rs.6000 would be given to research scholars.

Mr. Reddy made an appeal for making the third phase of ‘Kalyanamastu’ on March 9 a grand success.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu