Delay in reconstitution of TTD local advisory committees hits development works

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board is yet to appoint members to the Local Advisory Committees (LAC), the governing bodies at the local level.

The TTD has LACs in Chennai (for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), Hyderabad (Telangana), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and New Delhi (entire north India). The panels should comprise of local residents selected based on their spiritual bent of mind and altruistic outlook.

The LACs are also tasked with maintaining and improving the Lord Venkateswara temples established by the TTD in their areas and getting funds for their development.

The LACs are generally filled by the TTD Trust Board in consultation with the State government. Though the NDA government in the State has been in power for 10 months now and the TTD Board is firm in its saddle, no serious thought has apparently gone into forming LACs.

The tenure of the previous LACs lapsed when the model code of conduct came into effect ahead of general elections last year.

Though the reconstitution of LACs has no direct bearing on the administration of the temples, as could be seen in their functioning for the past ten months, projects brought in by the previous LACs have not reached their logical end.

For example, the expansion of Sri Venkateswara temples on the TTD information centre premises on Venkatanarayana Road in the heart of Chennai and another in Vellore have hit a road block. The previous Chennai LAC, headed by A.J. Sekar Reddy, had begun the negotiations for procuring land for the purpose, but it has not been pursued further.

Led by Mr. Sekar Reddy for three consecutive terms, the Chennai LAC had played a key role in completing the ‘Go Mandir’, an exclusive temple for cow worship at Alipiri, and Sri Padmavati Thayar temple at T. Nagar in Chennai, besides reviving ‘Srinivas Kalyanam’ at Island Grounds in Chennai, which was held in 2022 after a gap of fourteen years.

Similarly, the absence of New Delhi LAC has affected the progress of works taken up at Kurukshetra and Jammu. Former president of New Delhi LAC Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy said the works sanctioned during her stint have not been followed up.

She said the allied development works proposed around the Kurukshetra temple are yet to begin. “This is probably due to a lack of follow up as there is no LAC there,” said Ms. Prashanthi Reddy, who is currently a TTD board member.

The situation is similar in Hyderabad and Mumbai LACs, where projects are said to be moving at a snail’s pace.