Four Employees Suspended at Tirumala Tirupati for Practicing Non-Hindu Faiths

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district, suspended four employees on Saturday for following other religions.

The suspended employees include deputy executive engineer (quality control) B. Elizar, G. Asuntha of SV Ayurveda Pharmacy, Balaji Institute of Surgery, Research and Rehabilitation for the Disabled (BIRRD) Hospital nurse S. Rosi, and grade-I pharmacist M. Premavati,” a statement issued by TTD official spokesperson said.

The TTD in May had said that non-Hindus working at various institutions run by the board would be transferred to other Andhra Pradesh government departments or could opt for its voluntary retirement scheme.

Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar also raised strong objections to the employment of non-Hindus in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) during his visit to Tirumala last week.

The statement said that the four suspended TTD employees were accused of not following the “institution’s code of conduct and acted irresponsibly while performing their duties as employees of a Hindu religious organisation.”

“After examining the report submitted by the TTD vigilance department and other evidence, departmental action was taken against them as per the rules and the four employees were immediately suspended,” the statement added.

The TTD on July 9 had suspended its assistant executive officer A. Rajasekhar Babu on charges of practising an alien faith, in violation of the declaration provided at the time of appointment. The TTD statement said that Babu regularly attended church and prayed every Sunday in his hometown of Puttur in Tirupati district.

As per rule 9 (vi) of the Service Rules issued by the revenue (endowments-I) department on October 24, 1989, all employees, while joining the TTD service, are required to take an oath and sign a declaration that they will follow Hindu Dharma and practise Hindu traditions only.

TTD executive officer J. Shyamala Rao said that the trust board, which met at Annamayya Bhavan in Tirumala, had decided on May 20 that its institutions should not have any non-Hindus on their rolls.

In February, he had issued orders to initiate disciplinary action against 18 non-Hindu employees working in various wings of the TTD. These employees were working as lecturers, hostel workers, office subordinates, engineers, helpers, nurses, and other paramedical staff in various institutions being run by the TTD.

The TTD management, at its trust board meeting on November 18, 2024, resolved to surrender the non-Hindus working in the temple administration in various capacities to the government. According to TTD records from 2021, as many as 40 non-Hindus were working in various institutions run by the TTD.