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Tirupati Temple: TTD Trust Removes 18 Non-Hindu Employees

Tirupati Temple: TTD Trust Removes 18 Non-Hindu Employees

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Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: While the BJP government at the Centre is making moves to incorporate non-Muslims in the Waqf Board, the Tirupati temple trust has initiated moves to remove 18 non-Hindu employees from the temple jobs for allegedly following non-Hindu practices and violating its rule requiring staff to follow Hindu traditions.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, the governing body of the Tirupati temple, has taken action against the 18 non-Hindu employees who are following non-Hindu practices despite taking an oath to uphold and follow the Hindu faith when they joined.

All of them have been barred from taking part in religious activity of the temple and have been asked to take a transfer to positions that are not connected to the temple. The board said the decision was in keeping with its commitment to preserving the spiritual sanctity of its temples and religious activities.

The TTD Board has recently resolved to either transfer such employees to government departments or facilitate their exit through the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. The TTD chairman BR Naidu said he would ensure that Tirumala remained a symbol of Hindu faith and sanctity.

Following his directions, orders have been issued for disciplinary action against the 18 employees who are allegedly participating in “non-Hindu religious activities while also taking part in Hindu religious fairs, festivals and functions conducted by the TTD, which impacts the sanctity, sentiments and beliefs of crores of Hindu devotees,” read a statement from the board.

The board said the employees of the temple have to take an oath in front of the idol of Lord Venkateshwara, promising to follow the Hindu faith and traditions when they join. Now, their actions have been found to “demean” the prestige of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, it said.

The memo said two officials of the TTD have been tasked with verifying the present posting of the 18 employees and ensure that they are not posted in Tirumala or any temple or any religious programme related work or post. As per the TTD Board’s resolution, these employees will be removed from their current roles at TTD temples and affiliated departments. They are also banned from taking part in any Hindu religious events or duties.

According to the 1989 Endowment Act, TTD employees must adhere to Hindu customs, and the board expressed concerns over the violation affecting the sanctity of TTD and the sentiments of devotees. BJP leader and TTD Board member Bhanu Prakash Reddy supported the move, stating he was prepared to see as many non-Hindu employees leave as necessary.

The decision to remove non-Hindu employees was not just a consequence of the hardline Hindutva stance taken by the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its allies, Jana Sena Party and BJP, against the previous YSRCP government’s management of TTD. Outrage against non-Hindu TTD employees, even when engaged in non-religious activities such as teaching, driving, or nursing, has been a recurring phenomenon under the previous YSRCP government, as well as the TDP government before that.

Former TTD Board chairperson and YSRCP leader YV Subba Reddy said there were only about 40 non-Hindu employees working under TTD. He said they were employed only outside the temple premises in non-religious work, such as hospitals and schools managed by the Board. TTD employs around 7,000 permanent staff and around 14,000 contract staff.

TTD’s Service Rules, laid down in a Government Order dated October 24, 1989, were amended in 2007 to say that it can recruit only Hindus. “Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules or any other rules now in vogue, appointment to any of the posts in any category in any of the institutions administered or substantially funded by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams shall be made only from among the persons professing Hindu Religion,” the Service Rules say.

But a few non-Hindu employees recruited before these rules were in place, mainly Christians, have continued working in TTD. The religion of the staff members became a major issue in 2017 when a video of then TTD Welfare Department’s Deputy Executive Officer Sneha Latha visiting a church in her official car surfaced. A group of Hindu priests complained that she was visiting the church every Sunday in the official car belonging to the board.

Amid pressure from priests and other Hindu groups, the TTD management found that 44 of its employees were non-Hindus and 39 of them were recruited between 1989-2007. Most of them were employed under the compassionate grounds category, TTD officials had said. This list wasn’t just based on their professed religion. The Vigilance Department reportedly conducted door-to-door inquiry to investigate the religious practise followed by them privately.

The TTD management then issued notices to these 44 non-Hindu employees, many of whom worked in posts unrelated to religion, such as drivers, attenders, nurses, sanitation workers etc. The employees then moved the Telangana High Court challenging the service rules. The court in February 2018 stayed the termination of the employees, pulled up the TTD Board for issuing them notices, and raised questions on the constitutional validity of religion-based hiring.

In 2019, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, a chief minister of Christian faith, came to power. This was followed by heightened attacks on the TTD by the opposition, with claims that the YSRCP government was enabling religious conversions in Tirumala and across the state. Amid a slew of controversies, such as an advertisement for a Jerusalem pilgrimage on a state transport bus ticket to Tirumala, the opposition started to portray the Jagan government as anti-Hindu.

Barely two months after Jagan came to power, in August 2019, then chief secretary LV Subrahmanyam said non-Hindu TTD employees would be removed. He also said employees recruited as Hindus, who may have converted to other religions, cannot be allowed to continue in the job. The stay order against termination was still in place when he made this statement.

“If people have converted while working here, that is fine. They are free to change their religion and no one will oppose it. However, they can’t continue with the job and will not be given an important post because it will hurt the sentiments of Hindus,” Subrahmanyam said.

Newly appointed TTD chairperson Naidu had declared that ensuring only Hindus work at Tirumala would be his main agenda. “Everyone who works at Tirumala should be Hindu. That would be my first effort,” he said. But this time, instead of seeking an explanation or terminating them, the Board has asked the government if they can be sent to other government departments or be made to opt for VRS.

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