Tirumala, May 3 (TNT) : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State official spokesperson and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board member Bhanu Prakash Reddy on Sunday alleged irregularities in the administration of the TTD, claiming that adulterated ghee was used in the preparation of the temple’s Laddu Prasadam.
Reddy alleged that during the tenure of former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the ghee used was not pure and contained chemical-based substitutes.
He referred to findings of a committee headed by retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar, appointed by the Andhra Pradesh Government, which he claimed had identified violations.
He further alleged that certain regulatory relaxations by the then Trust Board enabled the irregularities and named some former TTD officials as being complicit.
Reddy said the TTD Trust Board is likely to take up the issue at its meeting on May 6 and may consider initiating criminal proceedings against those found responsible.
It may be recalled that the one-man committee was constituted by the Andhra Pradesh Government following a Supreme Court of India-mandated Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged supply of adulterated ghee to TTD, and has since submitted its report to the Government.
The report reportedly pointed to serious administrative lapses by senior TTD officials in the procurement of cow ghee used for laddu prasadam and recommended disciplinary and administrative action against several officers for failing to enforce quality and food safety norms.
TNT TS
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