5,000 Sanitation Workers Serve Tirumala: Chinta Mohan Counters Bandi Sanjay
The Congress leader criticised the BJP for repeatedly targeting minorities and diverting attention from real issues such as unemployment and workers’ welfare.
Tirupati: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Chinta Mohan came down heavily on Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, on Tuesday, accusing him of making baseless and insensitive remarks about non-Hindu employees working in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Reacting to Bandi Sanjay’s recent claim that around 1,000 non-Hindus were employed in the TTD without belief in Lord Venkateswara, Mohan said the figure was misleading. “Not 1,000 non-Hindu employees, there are nearly 5,000 non-Hindu sanitation workers employed on the Tirumala hills,” he said. Mohan was addressing the media in Tirupati while staging a demonstration at the TTD administrative building.
“These workers clean the toilets and drains used by thousands of devotees every day. They work for a meagre salary of ₹10,000 to ₹12,000 per month. Many of them attend church on Sundays and keep the Bible at home. Can Bandi Sanjay remove them all? Will he bring people from Telangana to clean the toilets?” he asked.
The Congress leader criticised the BJP for repeatedly targeting minorities and diverting attention from real issues such as unemployment and workers’ welfare.
He further alleged that scheduled castes and backward classes were being sidelined in the Tirumala temple administration under the current government. “When Congress was in power, we appointed SC officers to key positions like Peishkar and Deputy EO in TTD. Today, how many SCs or OBCs are holding such posts? The government must answer,” he said.
The former MP demanded that the Telugu Desam-led government ensure equitable representation in TTD appointments and uphold the dignity of all workers serving on the sacred hill.
