Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy urged the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to revive its broadcasting agreement with All India Radio (AIR) in the interests of the public.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Reddy said that the TTD had reached an agreement with AIR for daily broadcast of pre-dawn rituals like Suprabhatam, Thomala and Archana in 2018. Though the agreement stands valid till August 31, 2022, the TTD withdrew from it and urged the latter to discontinue the services from September. He also demanded to make public the compulsions behind the discontinuation of the broadcast.
When contacted by The Hindu , Public Relations Officer T. Ravi attributed the reasons to the TTD developing its own SVBC radio and SVFM channels and said that the decision also led to the saving of around ₹35 lakh annually in the form of broadcasting expenses which hitherto were paid to AIR. This apart, he said that the SVBC also telecasts live all the pre-dawn rituals every day for the benefit of the pilgrims fraternity.
