Mr. Dharma Reddy, the Executive Officer (EO) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD,) clarified the rumours of rental hike in ordinary rooms in Tirumala.
On the 12th of January, Thursday, Mr. Dharma Reddy said that it was wrong to say that the rentals of cottages at Tirumala were hiked and confirmed no hike. Addressing the media, Mr. Dharma Reddy said, “It was unfortunate that some talked without getting the detailed information and therefore he had to come out with the facts. There are 7,500 rooms in Tirumala. Apart from these, there are four free accommodation complexes for pilgrims. Ordinary devotees can stay there free of cost and there are lockers, food and bathroom facilities.” He further added, “There are 5,000 rooms at Rs.50, and Rs. 100 rentals and these rentals remained the same for the past 40 years. After this government took over, the rooms were modernised with Rs.116 crores. The Rs.50 rental room of TTD would cost Rs.2,000 at a private hotel. The expenditure for geyser, room cleaning and power bill will all work out to Rs. 250. But still, the rentals of rooms given to ordinary devotees are not hiked. There are 1,230 rooms at Rs.1,000 rentals. All these are non-AC rooms and devotees who book special entrance darshan will be allotted these rooms online.”
However, Mr. Dharma Reddy said, the rentals of rooms in Padmavati and MABC areas are higher and mostly VIPs stay there, as these rooms have additional facilities. The EO also confirmed that not the ordinary rooms, but the rentals of 1,344 rooms at Narayana Giri and SV Guest House were hiked. The VIP rooms at Padmavati guest house area were modernised at a cost of Rs.8 crore, following which they increased the rentals.
However, Mr. Dharma Reddy confirmed that the rentals for VIP rooms were also hiked only for the purpose of uniform rentals for AC rooms and not for generating revenue. He said, “The TTD did not hike the rentals for revenue. The decision was taken to ensure uniform rentals for all AC rooms. We have spent Rs.5 lakh on each room and by hiking the rentals the TTD will get only a nominal revenue.”
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