MLA suspects quality of ghee being used for laddus at Simhachalam temple

TDP MLA suspects poor quality ghee in Tirupati laddu, demands inquiry into temple's procurement practices.

Amid the Tirupati laddu controversy, Bheemunipatnam Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao suspects poor quality ghee is being used in the preparation of Laddu Prasadam at the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple on the Simhachalam hill in Visakhapatnam.

The MLA visited the temple on Saturday (September 21, 2024) and offered prayers. Later, as part of the inspection, he checked the ingredients used in the prasadam, including the ghee, and the process of preparation by the staff. He visited the material storing room and checked the register entries, weight of laddus etc. He found that an Uttar Pradesh-based trader had been supplying ghee at ₹385 a kg, and raised doubts with the officials over its quality.

“One kg of ghee of Visakha Dairy, or Amul is priced around ₹650-700. Organic or better quality ghee may cost more than ₹1,000 a kg. How can you accept the ghee which is being supplied for just ₹385?” he questioned the Devasthanam staff.

The food safety officers who accompanied the MLA collected random samples of various ingredients, which would be sent for testing.

Mr. Ganta later told the media that he was shocked after checking the details of ghee purchases in the temple’s store room. During 2019-20, a kg of ghee was bought for ₹500. In 2020-21, it was procured for ₹488 per kg and in 2021-22 for ₹591. Surprisingly, in 2022-23, the Devasthanam procured ghee for ₹393 a kg from an Uttar Pradesh-based company. During 2023-24, they changed several agencies and ghee was bought at ₹385, and ₹529, while in the current year, it was being procured for ₹385 a kg.

“When the prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing, the price of ghee being procured by the Devasthanam has decreased by more than ₹200 a kg, which is quite shocking to me,” the MLA said.

“When we have a Visakha Dairy unit located just 20 km away, what is the need to procure ghee from Uttar Pradesh? In the name of reverse tendering process, the YSRCP government has played with the sentiments of devotees. If some agency provides a kg of ghee for ₹100, will they accept it?” he asked.