Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is all prepared to provide darshan to devotees, once lockdown 4.0 is lifted, but at the same time it will adhere to every safety guideline issued by the Centre and State.

Henceforth, pilgrims need to book time-slot for darshan and after the end of the lockdown 4.0, 5,000 to 10,000 pilgrims a day will be allowed initially to ensure social distancing, TTD chief YV Subba Reddy tells S Guru Srikanth.

How do you plan darshan for devotees after the end of lockdown 4.0? Will there be any changes in the existing system?
The entire world is passing through difficult times due to coronavirus pandemic. We have to follow whatever guidelines are  prescribed by the Centre and the State government to protect devotees from coronavirus as Tirumala is a major shrine where a large number of pilgrims come individually or in groups for darshan.TTD used to provide darshan for 80,000 to 1 lakh people on an average per day. Now, we may not be in a position to provide darshan for such large numbers. We have already started an exercise as to how to provide darshan for devotees once lockdown 4.0 is lifted. Devotees will be screened at Alipiri and in Tirupati. There will be a queue system different from the earlier one by incorporating social distancing norm. However, we will try to accommodate as many devotees as possible while adhering to the safety guidelines. We have asked our officials to design the queue system taking every safety norm into consideration.

Will there be a uniform darshan instead of the existing different darshan system?
We will continue with existing types of darshan like Sarva Darshan and Divya Darshan, but with some restrictions. However, preference will be given to Sarva Darshan (free darshan) devotees, but you cannot straight away walk into Tirumala and have darshan. You have to book a time slot even for free darshan. You can book online or you come to Tirupati where a separate registration counter will be opened  for booking time-slot. Devotees will be allowed as per the time-slot allotted to them. If all devotees come to Tirumala at once, it may not be possible to control them and maintain social distance. So we have to restrict them at Tirupati itself. Those who booked time-slot online will be allowed first at Tirumala.

How much time do you think it takes for resumption of regular darshan?
It is hard to say. We have to conduct a trial run and even for that we have to wait till lockdown 4.0 is lifted. We will start with 5,000 to 10,000 devotees a day and gradually increase the number to 25,000 to 30,000 as per the recommendations of the TTD engineering wing. At this juncture, we cannot say anything about maximum number of devotees allowed for darshan a day. We can only get an idea after the trial run. Once lockdown is lifted, with our employees (500 - 1,000) we will conduct a trial run. It is difficult to say when the situation will return to normal. Hopefully, normalcy will return at the earliest.
 
How has lockdown affected TTD?
Like any other sector, TTD was also affected by the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Centre to contain the spread of coronavirus. TTD is not into profit or loss and its sole objective is to provide darshan of Lord to devotees. But, still we have to maintain the temple and a large number of institutions like schools, colleges, old age homes and hospitals among others run by TTD, whether devotees visit the temple or not with or without hundi collection. See, TTD has some 21,000-odd employees in Tirupati and elsewhere. We have to pay salaries to them and take care of their safety and security also. One of our hospitals was converted into Covid-19 Hospital, and we spent some Rs 20 crore for it and another Rs 20 crore - Rs 30 crore for providing food to stranded people in Tirupati. We are confident that with the blessings of Lord Venkateswara, we will not have any problem in maintaining the temple and TTD institutions.

TTD has taken up several projects like temple construction in Mumbai, Kurukshetra and other parts of the country. Will there be any impact on the projects?
We will take up as many projects as we can, but major projects will be deferred to next year. However, they will be certainly executed.

There were reports that TTD was hard-pressed to pay salaries to its employees. Is it true?
The issue was raised in social media and even in national media. Like the entire country, we are also passing through difficult times. However, we are confident of overcoming all these problems. We paid salaries to TTD staff for March and April and made provision for payment of salaries for May. We are following the same norms as applicable to government employees with regard to payment of salaries.

Will there be any downsizing of TTD employees?
No, absolutely no. There were rumours that we have removed some 200 sanitation workers last month. Actually they were not our employees. They are working with a facilitating contractor. After the contract period ended, we terminated the contract and invited new tenders. As it is the lockdown period and also following court directions, we extended the contract period by two months. After lockdown 4.0 is lifted, we will finalise the new contractor and ask him to continue the contract employees, who are already working at Tirumala. It is a regular practice.

It has been nearly one year since the constitution of new TTD Board. What is its contribution?
We gave priority to provision of comfortable darshan for common devotees and not VIPs. Earlier, there was L1, L2, L3 system, which was misused. We totally abolished that system. Now, VIP darshan time was reduced to 1.5 - 2 hours. This is a major change. Earlier, some TTD funds were deposited in private banks. Depositing funds in private banks is not wrong, but why should it be? We decided to withdraw funds from private banks. We withdrew funds from YES Bank two months before it ran into crisis. However, we are depositing some funds again in private banks after taking into consideration the RBI guidelines and the rating of banks. We have to do this as the rate of interest offered by nationalised banks is less.

Is the proposed light metro rail project to Tirumala still on the anvil?
It is still on the anvil, and it will be taken up on the existing ghat roads and pathways. The objective is to achieve zero air pollution by reducing dependence on buses. It may be a light metro or monorail. But we will defer the project for sometime.

Will TTD continue Garuda Varadhi project?
We will continue it though it is a burden on TTD.  It was a project started by the previous government. Already 50 per cent of the project works have been completed. However, we will not be able to make any payments now and may be able to pay next year. We informed the same to the contractors executing the project.