Hyderabad: Amid row over ignoring the official request letters submitted by devotees from the State in the name of elected representatives and Ministers, Telangana government has granted permission for engaging services of C Ganesh Kumar to work as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) (Liaison Officer) on its behalf on contract basis at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
With the appointment of Liaison Officer, the problems of devotees from Telangana visiting Tirumala are expected to resolve. The decision to appoint a Liaison Officer was taken following a series of grievances poured in from devotees complaining that the staff at TTD were not entertaining the request letters given in the name of elected representatives and Ministers to devotees seeking accommodation or darshan.
Ganesh Kumar would be under the administrative control of Commissioner of Endowments till the actual need ceases. A consolidated remuneration of Rs.1 lakh per month would be paid with a condition to pay the same through DBT mode and entering into the contract agreement with a person engaged on contract basis.
The expenditure would be met from the funds of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Vari Devasthanam, Yadagingutta in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. The Revenue (Endowment) department, at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat in Hyderabad should take necessary further action in the matter, according to Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Principal Secretary to Government.
On Friday, Telangana Endowments Minister Konda Surekha exuded confidence that the Andhra Pradesh government would positively look into the problems being faced by devotees from Telangana while visiting Tirumala.
She said the Andhra Pradesh government would take a positive initiative to resolve the problems of Telangana devotees, who are visiting Tirumala. She said this after having darshan at Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy Varla Devasthanam in Srisailam along with her family.
