The appointment on Anil Kumar Singhal as the new EO for TTD is turning into a major controversy. Now Swarupananda Swamy is going to Court against this appointment of Singhal. Swamy says that Singhal does not know Telugu and he is not aware of the vedas and traditions of TTD and the Lord Balaji. He opined that the appointment of the new EO is not justified.
Swamy Swarupananda will be filing a case in the court against this appointment.
The CM of AP Chandrababu Naidu made a departure from tradition by appointing Anil Kumar Singhal, hailing from North India, as the Executive Officer of Tirumula Tirupati Devasthanams notwithstanding the simmering discontent among Telugu IAS officers of the State about the choice.
Singhal, an AP State cadre officer, prior to his new appointment was serving as Resident Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh government at AP Bhavan in New Delhi.
The late night orders came as a disappointment to the Telugu officers aspiring for the post as well as the Telugu IAS officers fraternity who have been openly airing their views about the post going to a ‘North Indian’.
Explaining why the post should have gone to a Telugu or a South Indian, retired IAS officer M.V.S. Prasad who served as TTD EO from 1990 to 1992 said “TTD EO is an AP cadre post. It involves an understanding of the culture and sanctity of the temple traditions as also the subtleties and the sentiments of crores of devotees and those who carry out various temple rituals. It is not a mere administrative job that any IAS officer can be appointed”.
I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, former Executive Officer of the TTD, also echoed similar view. “I stand by what I have publicly said on this issue earlier. It is always better that this post is given to a Telugu or at least a South Indian who can better appreciate the traditions and customs of the temple. There was no particular reason to break a custom that is 100 years old.”
The post of TTD EO is mainly an administrative post and the officer should ideally confine himself to the administrative role. Region should not become an issue, some others felt.
