Annaprasadam Scheme To Cover 116 Temples: Minister Ramanarayana Reddy

Tirupati: Endowments minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy on Thursday said the State government would expand the daily Annaprasadam distribution scheme from 52 temples to 116 temples across Andhra Pradesh in the coming months.

The minister made the announcement after inaugurating newly constructed accommodation blocks at the Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Swamy temple in Kanipakam of Chittoor district. The two accommodation blocks were built at a cost of ₹14.74 crore.

Addressing the media, he said the new facilities include 83 rooms, 15 suite rooms and two common halls for devotees. He said the coalition government was focusing on improving accommodation and pilgrim amenities in major temples across the State.

Ramanarayana Reddy said the Dhoopa Deepa Naivedyam scheme was currently being implemented in 6,229 temples with an expenditure of ₹74 crore and would be expanded to 10,000 temples in future.

In Chittoor district, the scheme is being implemented in 183 temples with an allocation of ₹3.39 crore, he said, adding that priests were being appointed in temples lacking basic facilities and ₹10,000 was being deposited into their bank accounts every month.

The minister said ₹64.33 crore had been sanctioned under the Common Good Fund for reconstruction works in 30 temples in Chittoor district. Across the state, renovation works worth ₹812.67 crore were under way in 691 temples over the last 23 months.

He also said the “SRIVANI Bhajana Mandiralu” programme, being implemented with support from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, aimed to construct 5,000 bhajana mandirams across the state within two years.

District collector Sumit Kumar, local MLA K. Murali Mohan and others attended the programme.