Waiting in the compartments in Tirumala will no longer be monotonous, going by the changes planned by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Every compartment in the Vaikuntham Queue Complex I and II will have a free phone, more fans and exhaust fans, additional toilets, sanitary staff to clean them and a help desk to address the pilgrims’ queries. The TTD is already serving milk to the devotees waiting in the compartments.
The TTD is keen on taking feedback as the basis to identify and remove bottlenecks and also provide more facilities. The channels of feedback now are the call centre, ‘Dial Your EO’ phone-in programme and the official email, but the most accurate response comes from the registers in the compartments — which generate up to 500-600 complaints/comments a day — where pilgrims spell out their suffering almost immediately. This huge database is the basis for the TTD to design its queue management system.
TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal has recently improved the darshan mechanism meant for senior citizens and physically challenged persons. Based on the feedback that the quota earmarked for them is grossly insufficient compared to their inflow, the TTD has enhanced it from 1,500 to 4,000 on July 18 and 25 (Tuesdays). “Similar to the easy entry provided to parents with infants, we have received requests from parents with five-year-olds, which is not possible in the given circumstances. However, we are providing them darshan on July 19 and 26 [Wednesdays],” Mr. Singhal announced at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme in the Tirupati Press Club on Monday.
Divya Darshan
On the recent move to stop issuing ‘Divya Darshan’ special entry tickets to footpath trekkers on weekends and the resultant public furore, Mr. Singhal clarified that the TTD was against clamping sanctions on the age-old tradition of trekking the hills. “We respect the sentiment behind trekking. We are only against the issue of tickets, which would mean an assurance of quicker darshan, which is not possible during the weekends,” he said.
