The menace of lobbying and black marketing of VIP darshan tickets at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara has been checked to a large extent at least for the time being, thanks to the reforms introduced by the temple administration.
The major fallout of the reforms is that the ‘element’ of discrimination, which caused heartburn between the VIPs before the abolition of L1, L2 and L3 system, is absent and there is a prevailing sense of unanimity among them. Another visible vantage is that about one hour of darshan time is saved enabling the TTD clear more than 5,000 devotees additionally every day.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had instructed Tirumala Titupati Devasthanams Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy at the time of his nomination to free the temple town from the clutches of white collared lobbyists and highly connected touts. The classification of VIP darshan tickets had badly tainted the image of the institution, as tickets were sold at a mind boggling prices of ₹20,000 and above as against the normal price of ₹500 each.
Restrictions
It is against this backdrop that the newly appointed TTD Special Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy began imposing restrictions on the issuance of VIP darshan tickets soon after assuming office. The protocol privileges are now strictly confined to those VIPs arriving in person, and rest are treated as one category without any discrimination.
Constitutional heads, Cabinet Ministers both Central and State, judicial officials of Supreme Court and High Court, elected representatives and donors who have donated more than ₹1 crore to the TTD are currently extended with special privileges.
The staff working at the JEO’s office, who hitherto allegedly “minted extra bucks” by accompanying the affluent and industrialists, are now prohibited from entering the temple during the VIP darshan. Neither is the ‘Harati’, which then flooded the pockets of officials with bountiful riches, is given any more nor is the theerthaam and satari provided inside the sanctum sanctorum to non-protocol devotees.
VIP tickets
Speculation is rife that TTD may soon link its newly floated SRIVANI trust in the issuance of VIP tickets as part of its effort to further tweak the darshan system. The main objective of the trust is to construct temples of Lord Venkateswara in all major towns and cities across the country.
The management is expected to arrive at a concrete conclusion once a full TTD board is constituted.
