The row over proposed hike in the ‘Abhishekam’ ticket price from ₹700 to ₹5,000 at the temple of Lord Varasiddhi Vinayaka Swamy at Kanipakam took a new twist following the posting of an In-charge Executive Officer on Friday.
S. Rana Pratap, an official in the cadre of a Gazetted Superintendent, who is holding the full additional charge of the post of Deputy Commissioner, Kurnool (Endowments Department), is posted as the in-charge Executive Officer.
The outgoing Executive Officer, M.V. Suresh Babu, who holds the cadre of Regional Joint Commissioner, Rajahmundry (Endowments Department), was duly relieved from Kanipakam temple duties.
The action from the Endowments department, which administers the temple, comes in the wake of a notification, issued by Mr. Suresh Babu, on September 27 inviting public opinion on the proposed hike of the ticket price at the Vydika Committee meeting held on September 16.
As per the notification, based on the suggestion of the panel members, a proposal was mooted to hike the Abhishekam ticket price from ₹700 to ₹5,000, and to name the Seva as “Maha Abhishekam”. The reason cited for this was to avoid rush inside the temple, and to cut down the time of Arjitha sevas, running into a total of six hours. The proposal drew flak from Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders across the State.
Bahujan Samaj Party (Chittoor district) leader M. Mahesh Swaero, who is a native of Kanipakam, demanded that the State government conduct a thorough inquiry into the entire episode of the proposal of price hike and take action against all those who were responsible for the development.
“It is unjust to isolate one particular official. The proposal was mooted by the Vydika committee members, and Endowments department officials present at the meeting,” he said, adding that an agitation would be taken up on this issue.
Senior officials at the temple observed that the present posting of in-charge Executive Officer from the cadre of Gazetted Superintendent was a violation of the service rules, as only those in the cadre of Joint Commissioners are entitled to the EO post.
