Tirupati: The trust board of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has accorded permission for initiating disciplinary proceedings against 17 retired employees, including then deputy executive engineer I. Peddabi Reddy, for misusing house building loans (HBLs) granted to them.
TTD had launched the HBL scheme many years ago for its employees to realise their dream of owning a house. However, it mandated that the employee who avails the loan must utilise it only for construction or acquisition of their residence.
As many as 97 employees took loans from 2002 to 2013. However, after reports of the loan being misused, an inquiry was ordered, which found that only three TTD employees had used it for acquiring a house or flat.
While proceedings of the enquiry against loanees and loan-sanctioning officials are at different stages, 17 employees, including a sanctioning official, were forcibly retired from TTD between 2017 and 2021. The TTD trust board has now accorded permission to the TTD executive officer to initiate disciplinary action against them and recover loan dues, if any.
