Tirumala to shift non-Hindu staff

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, January 6

Taking note of the objections over non-Hindus working in various service wings of Tirumala temple, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), an autonomous body managing the affairs of the country’s richest shrine, has decided to shift such employees to other governmental departments.

TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal said, “The temple board has identified 44 non-Hindus working at the hill shrine in Andhra Pradesh. All of them will be shifted to other departments in the same cadre.”  

According to the guidelines of the temple, non-Hindus cannot work in any of its services. However, non-Hindus can visit and have a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara after signing a register before entering the queue complex declaring that they have faith in the Hindu god. Nestled among a string of seven hills in Chittoor district, the shrine attracts 50,000 to one lakh pilgrims every day. The number goes up substantially during the festivals and on other special occasions.

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The temple board had issued notices to all 44 non-Hindu employees working in various wings, seeking an explanation from them. “We will be sending them to other government departments in the equivalent cadres and scales,” Singhal added. The state government has agreed to consider their deputation to other departments, he said.

The row over the presence of non-Hindus on the TTD payrolls had surfaced following a sting operation done by a local spiritual television channel on a senior female TTD official who regularly goes to churches in Tirupati, in her official vehicle. The media expose triggered strong protests from the local Hindu organisations.

There were also allegations in the past that religious conversions were going on unhindered in and around the hill shrine. Acting on the complaints, the TTD administration asked Chief Vigilance and Security Officer A Ravi Krishna to conduct an inquiry and identify the non-Hindus in the temple services. The inquiry revealed that the female officer had been appointed in the TTD in 1986, when there was no restriction on the appointment of non-Hindus, which was only following the rule of reservations.

Recruitment against rules 

• An order imposing a ban on the recruitment of non-Hindus in temple administration, except in educational institutions run by the temple, was issued in 1988
• In 2007, another order banned recruitment of non-Hindus even in educational institutions. An official inquiry revealed that as many as 35 non-Hindus were recruited between 1988 and 2007