TTD Will Purchase Rice From the Rice Millers Association - TTD Eo

The taste and quality of Annaprasadam will be enhanced by purchasing the rice from Rice Millers Association soon, said, TTD EO Sri AV Dharma Reddy.

The TTD EO attended to 28 Pilgrim Callers from different states during the live phone-in program, Dial your EO held at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala on Friday. 

Answering to the feedback given by one of the callers, Sri Krishna from Anakapalli who sought the EO to enhance the taste of Annaprasadams being served at the Annaprasadam Complex in Tirumala, the EO said that, TTD Board has approved to purchase the rice from the Rice Millers' Association and will be implemented soon.

When a caller Sri Shankar Goud from Hyderabad sought EO to release the quota of Vaikuntha Ekadasi Dwara Darshan during the first week of September, the EO said the quota will be released along with the December online Darshan Quota.

Pilgrims Sri Rajaram from Rajamundry and Smt Vinata from Hyderabad suggested EO to resume the off-line quota for Senior Citizens to which the EO replied due to the availability of limited number of tokens for Senior Citizens and Physically Challenged Darshan, it is not possible to release offline. Similarly, the EO also replied Sri Chakravarty from Tanuku that is the same with respect to Angapradakshinam tokens also.

Regarding the query to enhance maintenance of rooms in Astavinayaka Rest House, the EO said, very soon the rooms will be reformed and the rental of 55 rooms in this Rest House will be brought down to Rs.150 and will be allotted to common pilgrims. Instead, the 45 rooms in Vikas Rest House will be transformed into AC rooms with Geyser facilities.

When a caller Sri Sasi from Telangana State suggested EO to construct a Fly Over for the movement of wild animals in the Alipiri footpath route, the EO replied the area falls under the Jurisdiction Reserve Forest Area and as per the Wild Life Act and Norms it is not possible to do any sort of constructions without the clearance from Wild Life Authorities. "We are ready to provide any sort of financial support as per the suggestions by the concern officials provided if they give permissions", he maintained.

When Sri Govinda Swamy from Dharmagiri suggested EO to enhance the quality of laddus which used to be four decades ago and reduce the quantity of sugar candies as many are diabetic nowadays, the EO said, during 40 years ago, the production of Laddus were 2000 per day and today it is 5lakhs per day. However, the Dittam(ingredients measurements) is fixed and being prepared by Sri Vaishnava Brahmins since centuries. But we keep on trying to enhance the taste of laddu prasadams", he added.

Another caller Sri Prasad from Nellore sought EO to increase the number of Telugu Panchangam Calendars to which he will see the possibility.

Another caller suggested to introduce uploading photo to other Darshan tickets formats also akin to Virtual Sevas, to which EO said he will look into the possibilities.

Sri Rishi from Rajamundry suggested EO to use Desi Cow products for making Prasadams and Kainkaryams to which EO said already, TTD is doing the same from the past a few years. "We have already gathered 200 Desi Cows from across the country and another 200-300 will be added soon. On a day it requires 60kg of Ghee out of which 30 kilos are used for making Naivedya Annaprasadams and the remaining 30 kilos for Deeparadhanam.

Sri Basavaraju from Bellary sought EO to reintroduce 3-Day, 4-Day slots in Srivari Seva voluntary service to which EO said, the existing 7-day slot is a better one to offer services to the pilgrims in a complete way.

Smt Kamala Sekhar from Bengaluru suggested EO to grind cardamom along with sugar candies and mix the powder in Laddus to enhance the taste to which EO said, he will discuss with the Sri Vaishnava Brahmins, who are experts in Laddu preparation since several centuries to look into the possibilities.

JEO (H&E) Smt Sada Bhargavi, CVSO Sri Narasimha Kishore, CEO SVBC Sri Shanmukh Kumar, CE Sri Nageswara Rao and other officers were present.