TTD member defends ticket price hike

Tirupati: TTD decided to increase the Udayasthamana seva tickets to Rs 1 crore to mobile funds for the noble task of development of Sri Padmavathi Hrudayalaya, recently inaugurated TTD children's hospital here, to provide free services to more and more children suffering from various cardiac problems, said TTD trust board member Pokala Asok Kumar.

Defending the decision taken by trust board, Asok Kumar who is from Chittoor district, told media here on Wednesday that temple institutions providing free educational and medical services is not new but was an age-old Hindu tradition which gives importance to both, which are reverently termed as Vidayalayam and Vaidyalam equating them to temples (alayams).

In this connection, he said TTD 65 years ago donated 1,000 acre to set up Sri Venkateswara University and also set up many colleges with its own funds derived from temples and donations for promotion of education.

Right from the President, Prime Minister and also number of swamijis were all praise for TTD taking up social services activities, including free medical, educational, environment protection and also Gosamrakshana (protecting of cows) but some vested interests were trying to find fault with TTD service activities, he claimed.

Reacting to some of the swamijis and also social media posts terming the hike as blatant commercialism, he asserted that there is not an iota of commercialism behind the move which is solely to give impetus to TTD services to hundreds of children, stating the children's hospital within two months provided free surgeries to 22 children suffering from heart problems, involving huge amount.

A committee set up by TTD recommended hiking the Udayasthamana seva ticket following which the board approved it in its meeting held in November, he said, adding that the TTD expected to pool Rs 531 crore by the sale of 531 tickets with TTD for sale.

The total number of Udayasthamana seva tickets is 2,400 in which 531 are available, after the expiry of the validity of the ticket which is 25 years or due demise of the ticket holder, Kumar said, informing that the tickets will be released online for purchase in one or two weeks.

Affirming that the entire process of the sale of the seva tickets online will be transparent, he said the tickets will be issued on a first-come-first-served basis, giving no scope for any irregularity.

Asok Kumar further said that the ticket is not transferable in the sense the persons on whose name the ticket issued cannot recommend anyone for darshan which is limited to only the persons mentioned in the ticket.

Udayasthamana seva was introduced with its price at Rs 1 lakh in 1983 and was hiked to Rs 10 lakh in 2006 and now it is proposed to hike it to Rs 1 crore which kicked up a row with many opposing it on the ground that it is not proper for TTD under the guise of social service to increasing the ticket rate 10 times which is nothing but commercialism benefitting only rich and affluent at the cost of common devotees that is the poor.