On the 31st of August, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) decided to dismiss the ‘Sampradaya Bhojanam (traditional meal scheme.)
Initially, the TTD decided to conduct a trial run of Sampradaya Bhojnam, providing traditional food to people. The initiative started from the 26th of August and was scheduled till the 2nd of September as a trial.
However, after a lot of criticism, Y.V. Subba Reddy, Chairman of the TTD, on the 30th of August, addressed the media and said, “The decision to introduce the traditional meal scheme at a nominal cost was taken by officials without approval. That’s why we decided to scrap the project.” While addressing the media, the TTD Chairman said, “The officials had introduced the Sampradaya Bhojanam with a good intention during the absence of the TTD trust board. As any type of food served at Tirumala is offered as Swamivari prasadam, we have decided to discontinue the serving of traditional meals from today after consulting the officials.”
The minimum cost traditional meal consisting of organic products at the TTD Hindu Shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirupati was an initiative to promote organic food. However, due to the criticism, in just five days of it, the TTD dismissed the initiative.
According to sources, many opposition leaders and parties criticised the scheme saying it is a way of commercialising the food which is being served to devotees visiting the temple.
Acting upon these criticisms, the TTD Chairman Mr. Y.V. Subba Reddy said that since ‘prasad’ has to be offered free of cost, the scheme was cancelled. He said, “Any type of food that is served to devotees in Tirumala is offered as Swamivari prasadam and it should be free of cost and not even be on a cost-to-cost basis. Hence, I asked officials to scrap the trial run (of the Sampradaya Bhojanam scheme.)”
Meanwhile, with this, the TTD would continue with the free meal scheme, which is currently suspended in the wake of the Wuhan virus pandemic. The TTD Trust Board would conduct a review meeting and after consulting medical experts and current COVID-19 situation, the TTD would take a decision on providing a free meal scheme.
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