Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) trust has announced that it will distribute house sites to 5018 employees in two phases. This decision was made during the trust board meeting held at Tirumala. Additionally, TTD will procure 350 acres of land in Tirupati district to provide house sites for its employees. TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy stated that the temple trust will allocate house sites to another set of 5000 employees and pensioners in February next year, as per the directions of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Apart from this major decision, the TTD trust board also discussed and resolved various other matters. One of the key decisions was to increase the salaries of Potu workers by Rs.10000 for each worker and consider all Vahana bearers as skilled workers. This move aims to recognize the hard work and importance of these employees in the temple operations.
Furthermore, the trust board approved mandatory minimum wages of Rs.20000 for barbers working at the Kalyanakatta tonsure centers in Tirumala. The salaries for skilled workers were increased from Rs.15000 to Rs.18500, while semi-skilled workers will now earn Rs.15000 instead of Rs.12000. Unskilled workers’ pay has also been raised to Rs.15000 from Rs.10340.
In addition to employment-related decisions, the TTD trust resolved to invite pontiffs and Chiefs representing various Hindu mutts and organizations across the country for the Dharmika Sadas scheduled to be held in February. The trust also decided to allocate additional funds to Pedda Jeeyar and Chinna Jeeyar mutts.
Infrastructure development was also on the agenda of the trust board meeting. The TTD approved tenders for the construction of two new guest houses, Achyutam and Sripatham, at Tirumala. The estimated cost for this project is Rs.209.65 crore. Additionally, tenders were floated for the establishment of permanent queue lines near Gogarbham dam, with a budget of Rs.4.47 crore. The construction of a four-lane road from Sri Varaha Swamy rest house to the outer ring road, aimed at reducing traffic congestion for devotees, was also approved at a cost of Rs.6.32 crore.
Sanitation was another important matter discussed by the TTD trust. The board resolved to approve the tenders for sanitation in TTD roads, institutions, and devotees’ movements in Tirupati, in compliance with court directives. Lastly, the trust decided to construct a new Lord Venkateswara temple on 100 acres of land in Jharkhand.
