Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated a free laddu distribution scheme at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, on Friday via video-conferencing.
District Collector T.G. Vinay, who was present during the inaugural function, said that free laddus will be distributed throughout the day to all devotees after darshan. “Around 70 lakh devotees visit the temple annually and on an average 20,000 devotees visit the temple every day. From Friday, free laddus will be distributed to all devotees,” he said.
The temple had procured a machine, at a cost of ₹4 lakh, to make laddus, said ‘Thakkar’ Karumuttu T. Kannan. With each laddu weighing 30 grams, the machine can produce up to 2,000 laddus each hour. A total of 11 workers have been deployed to prepare the laddus. The laddus will be distributed to devotees through two counters at the sanctum sanctorum of Goddess Meenakshi.
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Laddu was chosen by the authorities due to the convenience in distribution, said Mr. Kannan. “There is no need for any package or plate for distribution,” he said.
He added that around ₹2.10 crore will be spent annually for the preparation of laddus.
Donations from the public will also be accepted, he said. Mr. Kannan said that the authorities are also planning to buy an additional machine for preparing laddus.
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Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Joint Commissioner N. Natarajan also participated.