Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Lord Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district, has turned its attention to the quality of rice being supplied to the temple’s kitchens to make prasadam in the aftermath of a major controversy over the adulteration of ghee used to make the temple’s famous laddus.
On Thursday, the TTD issued an advisory to the Rice Millers Associations of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana regarding the quality of rice. The advisory said there would be a strict protocol to check the quality of rice, and that if samples did not pass the stringent tests, entire truckloads would be rejected.
This comes a week after a CBI team investigating the ghee adulteration filed a chargesheet. The chargesheet said that between 2019 and 2024, suppliers sold 60 lakh kg of adulterated ghee worth Rs 250.80 crore to the temple.
Appealing to rice millers who supply thousands of tonnes of rice to the temple, TTD Additional Executive Officer C Venkaiah Chowdary urged them to send only superior quality rice, which is used to make the “annaprasadam” that is served to devotees.
Chowdary held a meeting with the rice millers of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Thursday at the conference hall of the Sri Padmavati Rest House in Tirumala.
He outlined steps to ensure that rice is supplied to TTD in accordance with the prescribed standards under the supervision of AP and Telangana Rice Millers Association. He said he gave instructions to the officials concerned to allow the rice served to devotees in annaprasadam only after it is thoroughly checked for quality and taste.
As per the new guidelines that the TTD issued to rice millers, the latter will submit a monthly schedule for rice supply and variety to TTD officials.
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Nearly 20,000 kg of rice is used daily for making annaprasadam in Tirumala, Tiruchanoor and other local temples. About 60% of the rice millers supplying rice to TTD are from Andhra Pradesh, and 40% are from Telangana.
Chowdary directed rice procurement officials of the TTD to hold virtual meetings with rice millers every month to ensure that the quality of rice is maintained. TTD is now seeking monthly feedback on the quality of annaprasadam through Srivari Sevaks — volunteers who help devotees.
Sreenivas Janyala is a Deputy Associate Editor at The Indian Express, where he serves as one of the most authoritative voices on the socio-political and economic landscape of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With a career spanning over two decades in mainstream journalism, he provides deep-dive analysis and frontline reporting on the intricate dynamics of South Indian governance.
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