Illegal collection at Kanipakam temple continues

Probe ordered into the arbitrary charges collected at footwear, cellphone counters

Collector Siddharth Jain inspecting the cellphone deposit counters at Kanipakam temple near Chittoor on Thursday night. - PHOTO: By Arrangement

Collector Siddharth Jain has ordered an inquiry into the unauthorised collection of money from devotees for keeping their footwear, mobiles and other electronic gadgets at the deposit counters at Lord Varasiddi Vinayaka Swamy temple at Kanipakam, 15 km away from here. The temple under the administration of Endowments Department records a pilgrim count of more than 25,000 on any regular day, which swells up to 1 lakh on festive occasions and weekends.

Following a news report on the illegal collection at the deposit counters by the contractors –Ruthless cheating of pilgrims at Kanipakkam — on November 20 in The Hindu , the Collector asked the temple executive officer, Purnachandra Rao, to display boards carrying the fixed rate chart at the counters at the counters near the shrine with immediate effect.

The temple officials put up the boards. Allegations were that the boards were removed after their photographs were taken, which were sent to the Collector. This corrupt practice is said to have run up to crores of rupees every year.

In this backdrop, the Collector made a surprise inspection of the counters in the temple zone on Thursday night, only to find no boards were displayed. He ordered an inquiry and asked the revenue and temple authorities to submit a report on Friday.

The counters are charging Rs 3 to Rs 5 per pair of footwear against the fixed rate of 50 paisa. For a cellphone, the devotees are being demanded Rs 5 to 10 as against Rs 2 and for electronic gadgets it is Rs. 25 when compared to fixed tariff of Rs 5. The Collector also found the visitors being fleeced in the vehicles parking zone too.

Even the temple authorities are also silent to this malpractice. Temple in-charge Executive officer Srinivasa Rao told

The Hindu that those, who raised their voice, were being dealt sternly by the contractor. “Despite the Collector’s order to put up display boards at the counters, no such step was initiated even by Friday evening. The revenue officials are looking into the case. We will inform the same to the Collector,” he said.