TTD, Sangh Parivar at loggerheads over use of Tirupati temple funds

Can ‘God's money’ be spent on meeting people's needs? The question has come to the forefront following a full-fledged war of words between the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) and the Sangh Parivar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has for years been objecting to TTD’s policy of spending hundi money, or religious donations, on social causes. It has gone to court against the TTD Governing Council’s decision to allocate 1 per cent of its budget for the development of Tirupati city to facilitate sanitation works there. The Tirumala hill, home to Lord Balaji, is part of Tirupati.

The Tirupati temple, among the richest in the world, has estimated annual revenues of ₹4.3 lakh crore. Apart from religious activities and temple maintenance, the funds are also used for social purposes such as running healthcare facilities and educational institutions.

Legal angle

Former Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit and another judge, S Ravindra Bhatt, have made interesting comments about this issue in the past.

Citing the Religious Endowments Act of 1863, the judges said that since the funds come from the people, they should be returned to the people. It was suggested that temples and religious organisations with sizable incomes should take care of society's needs.

On this occasion, the judges touched upon the educational and medical institutions run by TTD.

NTR’s move

In 1987, on the initiative of then Chief Minister, the late NT Rama Rao (NTR), the TTD Act was strengthened. The Mirashi system, which ensured hereditary priests got a share of temple income, was abolished that year. Many changes were made in the law to facilitate the use of TTD funds for educational, medical and sanitation purposes, and to cater to the needs of devotees.

Today, the BJP argues that a part of the TTD revenue should be paid to Mirashis (traditional priests) and that the NTR government was wrong to get the traditional Mirashi system abolished.

The TTD Act was framed in 1986 on the recommendations of Justice Challa Kondaiah. The fourth article of the Act, in Article 7, 6(a) sub clause 4, says funds can be spent on works like sanitation, education and medical facilities.

In 1988, Rs 25 crore was required for underground drainage works in the city, which TTD provided at the request of the Tirupati municipality.

The VHP went to court against this decision. Around Rs100 crore is said to have been spent on lawsuits. VHP lost the legal battle, and the underground drainage structure built then is still functional in supporting Tirupati.

Sanitation project

Again, recently, the TTD board passed a resolution in favour of spending 1 per cent of TTD funds for the development of Tirupati and for the maintenance of sanitation works. The 29-member TTD board is currently said to have nine BJP supporters. Interestingly, those nine members also backed the resolution, but the BJP outside the board opposed it.

BJP state president Purandeshwari came to Tirupati and protested against the use of TTD funds for social welfare purposes.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a key organisation within the Parivar, called for sit-ins at the offices of all collectors in Andhra Pradesh. The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government in the state took a step back, and announced that it was rejecting the proposal made by TTD.

Subsequently, work on the sanitation project was stopped by an interim order of the court.

The TTD’s stance is that Tirupati city’s upkeep is an essential part of Tirumala's upkeep. At least one lakh devotees visit the pilgrim centre every day. Last year, five lakh people came to Tirumala during the month of Purattasi (September-October). All pilgrims reach the Tirumala hill only via Tirupati city.

Housing decision

When TTD decided to give housing plots to its employees at Karakambadi near Tirupati city, the BJP, VHP and RSS blocked it in court. After years of legal wrangles, the allotment did happen, but now the site is Vadamalapet, 30 km from Tirupati. The employees are understandably not happy.

The row is not just about issues related to temple funds. TTD released a notification for filling up the posts of doctors in Tirupati SVIMS (Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences) Hospital, and the BJP said only Hindu doctors should be recruited.

Those who oppose the BJP and VHP's stance say there is a need for TTD to continue with the social programmes it is running.

It may be noted that Tirupati is among the cities chosen for the Smart City Mission, a pet project of the BJP government.

(The writer is Honorary President, TTD Staff and Labour Unions, Tirupati. Any views expressed here are his own.)