TTD releases White Paper on Srivani Trust donations, challenges claims on funds misuse

Tirupati: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), on Friday, released a White Paper on Srivani Trust (Sri Venkateswara Alayala Nirmanam Trust) donations, after a series of allegations were raised on the trust activities over the last few weeks.

Three days ago, TTD Trust board chairman YV Subba Reddy asserted that every rupee donated to Srivani Trust is accounted for, and some leaders are making baseless allegations against misuse of the funds. His comments came in the wake of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s allegations that the TTD is not giving receipts for donor donations.

After releasing the White Paper, Subba Reddy, accompanied by EO AV Dharma Reddy, stated that the donations received by the trust are maintained in a transparent manner without scope for any sort of irregularities.

History of Trust

TTD board established Sri Venkateswara Alaya Nirmanam Trust (acronym Srivani) on August 28, 2018, with the main objective to support the renovation/reconstruction of old temples and construction of new temples/bhajanamandirams (small temples), as part of Dharma Prachara.

The TTD board, on September 23, 2019, approved extending the privilege of a one-break darshan ticket to the donor who has donated Rs 10,000 to Srivani Trust. The trust collected Rs 861 crore in online and offline donations so far since its inception. While Rs 603 crore has been invested in bank FDs, the remaining amount is in trust accounts.

So far, Rs 93 crore has been sanctioned for the renovation/reconstruction of 176 temples under the Srivani Trust mission objectives.

Further, to propagate Dharma Prachara in areas prone to conversions, Srivani Trust has resolved to undertake the construction of bhajanamandirams in 2,273 SC/ST/fishermen colonies across Andhra Pradesh through AP Endowments Department and Samarasatha Sewa Foundation (SSF), with an estimated cost of Rs 10 lakh.

So far, SSF has taken up the construction of 320 bhajanamandirams (small temples) and the AP Endowment department has taken up the construction of 1,953 small temples. Around 320 small temples have completed constructed by both groups.

Aiming for Transparency

The TTD board said it’s keen to release the amount for the performance of Dhoopa Deepa Nivedyam to the most-needy temples. Similarly, Srivani Trust, on June 13, 2023, resolved to release Rs 5,000 to the archakas of temples constructed with the assistance of TTD.

“The public speeches made by a few individuals recently, alleging that the donor is not given the acknowledgement receipt for their donation is absolutely fake. The trust is a separate legal entity following all statutory requirements strictly and transparently,” said Subba Reddy.