Hyderabad: The Exhibition Society has asked the Bathini Goud family which administers fish Prasadam to pay up Rs 1.10 lakh towards service and conservancy charges, in addition to caution money deposit if it wants to utilise its ground for the annual event that attracts thousands.
This is despite the Society granting permission to the family for the annual event. A copy of the permission letter given by the Exhibition Society and signed by its honorary secretary V. Satyender is available with the Deccan Chronicle.
Bathini Harinath Goud, one of the eldest members of the family, said they have been administering the prasadam free of cost and it was not fair on the part of the Exhibition Society to seek service, conservancy and other charges from them.“The State government, which makes all security and other arrangements for people coming to take the prasadam, should instead settle the issue. We are not collecting a single paisa. Our prasadam is free of cost and so is our service,” he said.
Sources said the Exhibition Society had asked for these charges even last year but a couple of voluntary trusts that have been feeding the poor and carrying out other arrangements for the fish prasadam venue managed to convince the Society to rent the ground free of cost.
Exhibition Society Vice-President Anil Kumar Mishra said the service and conservancy charges go into the cleaning up of the mess that’s left behind after the event. “We spend more on repairing roads and cleaning the mess after the event compared to what has been asked from Bathini family,” he said.
When contacted, Hyderabad District Collector Mr Rahul Bojja said the district administration takes care of expenses for facilities at the event — not the rent for the ground.
“But we will look into the issue if the family approach us,” he said.
