The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) engineering department is once again mired in controversy with BJP leader P. Naveen Kumar Reddy calling for a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities in the promotions of Superintendent Engineers (SEs) and above.
Alleging that the seniority of eligible engineers were overlooked and the ineligible elevated to higher positions, he demanded TTD Executive Officer (EO) J. Shyamala Rao to initiate stern action against all those who violated TTD norms in the promotions.
He said that the recent orders of the High Court directing the authorities to consider the seniority of T.V. Satyanarayana, presently working as a Superintendent Engineer from October 2019, as a tight slap on the face of TTD. Satyanarayana who was at the top of the seniority list for the post of SE was denied a promotion and his junior D. Nageswar Rao was provided with an elevation, who later went on to become the Chief Engineer.
Aggrieved at the injustice meted out to him, Satyanarayana filed a petition in the High Court and challenged the TTD decision for ignoring his seniority.
Stating that the annual engineering works ran into several hundreds of crores of rupees, he alleged that the officials in the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) were influenced and those considered to serve their needs were given undue promotions, and that the High Court’s directive vindicated his stance.
The High Court orders have come as a major blow to the department whose image is already sullied with charges of large scale irregularities in the sanctioning of various engineering works, including the reconstruction of Sri Govindaraja Choultries situated on the southern side of the Tirupati railway station at a cost of over ₹600 crores. Allegations are rife that the twin structures (choultries), which allegedly could have lasted for another fifty years, were pulled down in haste for kickbacks and commissions.
