At Tirupati, temple officials wield brooms as cleaners strike over pay dispute

At Andhra Pradesh’s famous Tirupati temple on Tuesday, officials wielded brooms instead of pen and paper, a week after nearly a thousand sanitation workers went on a flash strike without notice over alleged pay dispute.

The well-known Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) officials began a cleanliness drive and were joined by the district collector of the region.

The cash-rich temple trust will never yield to such “blackmailing” tactics, said AV Dharma Reddy, Executive Officer (EO) of TTD, which is in charge of the management of one of the richest temples of the world.

Instead, a cleanliness drive, ‘Sundara Tirumala-Suddha Tirumala’ (Beautiful Tirumala, Pure Tirumala) will be taken up every month, he said.

According to Reddy, the strong workforce of TTD, whose head is appointed by the Andhra government, will help keep the premises of the temple town clean, green, and hygienic for visiting devotees.

The sanitation workers, who went on strike last week, alleged that their contracting agency had promised to pay them Rs 11,000 per month, but they were getting only Rs 9,000.

It seems the agency had proposed to further cut their wages to Rs 8,000, claimed the workers, who chose to go ahead with the strike despite the temple trust warning them of action citing a ban on strikes under TTD rules.

During this standoff, Reddy came up with the idea of cleanliness drives with TTD employees under the slogan ‘Sundara Tirumala-Suddha Tirumala’. The first such drive was conducted on Tuesday in Tirumala, which saw the participation of the trust’s executive officer, junior executive officers, and the district collector.

“Be it officers, or employees, or sanitary staff, all our salaries are being paid by the offerings in Srivari Hundi made by the devotees coming from different parts of the world. Everyone should keep in mind that devotees and pilgrims are our “pratyaksha daivam” (visible divine) and it becomes our foremost responsibility to serve them with dedication,” Reddy said addressing the TTD staff and Srivari Sevaks (temple volunteers) chosen to perform the drive.

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