TTD is serving free food for the pilgrims. It is also giving breakfast here and there. But their is a scope for lot of improvement in the quality of food. TTD organised cooking food at Vaikunta queue complex 1,2 and Outside queue lines and Food counters at PAC-2. TTD organized the cooking of Sambar Rice, Upma, Pongal and Pulihora also.
Raw material for all preparations is tested at the Tirupati marketing godown before being dispatched to the Anna Prasadam department. Every day 10-12 tonnes of Rice, and 7-8 tonnes of vegetables are being utilized after they are cleaned, cut by Srivari Sevaks and sent to all kitchens. Srivari Sevaks also serve and distribute food to devotees at queue lines and also at MTVAC and food counters across Tirumala.
Since the funds of the SV Nitya Annaprasadam, Trust has crossed ₹1502 crore and it has become self-reliant now, TTD has stopped giving grants to Annaprasadam since 2018.
To provide tasty and healthy Annaprasadam to the multitude of visiting pilgrims, TTD now intends to provide more nutritious food to devotees with organic vegetables produced from Natural Farming techniques. A meeting was convened with Organic Vegetable Farmers of Rayalaseema region recently by TTD.
During normal days the MTVAC functions between 9 am to 11 pm while during important festival occasions like Garuda Seva and Vaikuntha Ekadasi, 8 am till 1 am the next day.
With its tireless services, the Annaprasadam wing of TTD is being credited as “Akshaya Patra”-the divine never depleting food supply vessel, serving millions and millions of pilgrim public with delicious food items.
First the TTD must use good rice for the food and then they can bother about the organic vegetables. They must also give good curd rather than pouring watery butter milk. The Sambar is Ok. The free food served at Padmavathi Temple in Tiruchannor is far better than that on the TTD.
