Vijayawada, Jul 2 : Telugu Desam Party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday expressed serious concern that the vested interests were sowing the seeds of commercialisation and privatisation even in the highly-revered and supremely sacred hill-top temple of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).

Mr. Naidu strongly objected to the privatisation of the Srivari Seva Counters, saying that it was initiated just for the sake of collecting commissions even in a place of divinity like the Seven Hills. A centre of undiluted devotion like Tirumala temple was being turned into a hub of needless controversies and unsavoury disputes under the present rulers.

In a statement here, the former Chief Minister termed it as unacceptable that the seva counters for laddu distribution, ‘Kalyana Katta ‘ and Vaikuntam queue complex tickets scanning were handed over to a private agency. “All these Seva Counters were till now operated as free service counters by the national banks, devotees and voluntary organisations, who did not collect a single rupee from the TTD for rendering those Sevas”, he pointed out.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu asked how the free services being given to the TTD could be converted into paid services. Because of this, the TTD would have to pay for the services being provided by the private agency, he said. From now on, lakhs of devotees coming to render free services as Sri Vari Sevaks would have no chance for the same, he regretted.(UNI)