Vijayawada: The state government is neglecting the temple administration of Sri Kanaka Durga Malleswara Swami temple. Though the temple is the second important pilgrimage centre in the state, the government has not appointed a trust board for the past several years. Similarly, the government has also not appointed an IAS officer for the functioning of the temple administration.
According to reports, Durga temple is the second important temple in the state after Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). It has nearly Rs 100 crore cash and Rs 50 crore worth gold deposits in various banks. Similarly, its annual income also reaches Rs 50 crore and nearly 20,000 devotees visit the temple everyday.
Presently, the government appointed executive officer is only monitoring the temple administration. In this backdrop, the temple executive officer post plays a key role in the administration and it is being decided by some of the political leaders. As a result, its impact is also creating hurdles to the ongoing development works.
Two days ago, the temple executive officer was transferred and V. Trinatha Rao has been appointed in his place. According to sources, the former EO, Prabhakar Srinivas was transferred dueto political interference. He took several steps in the temple administration. Especially, he had evacuated the valuable three acres site in One Town area which was encroached.
He also proposed the construction of cottages for devotees. However, the proposal has not been cleared by the government. He recommended to the government that the work would have to be allotted to construction companies like L&T and GMR Infra for avoiding delay.
He had quoted in letter the delay in the ongoing Rajagopuram works and he claimed that the delay could be avoided by allotting the works to reputed constructing companies.
Former trust board member K. Jaganmohan said that there is political interference in the appointment of every EO. The entire temple functioning is being affected by the political interference, he added. He asked the government to appoint an EO without any recommendations. Then only a fair administration was possible. Several important works, including cottage construction are pending, he said.
