About Temple
TTD came into being in 1932 as per the TTD act which was promulgated in 1932. This act gave out the administration affairs to a committee, which had seven members and is overall checked upon by a commissioner who is in the payroll of the Madras government. The committee is advised by two councils, one part of which is constituted by the priests of the temples who aid in the administration and operations of the temple and the other part is comprised of farmers who give advice on how to transact the lands and estates of the temple. It was a revolutionary act, more so because the commissioner and committee members did not have to have any particular qualification.
The limitation of the act about balaji temple was up to the administration of the temple, fund generation and the religious purposes. In the year, the Madras hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act in 1951 was established which bypassed the sections of 80 and 85 of the TTD 1932 act related to the administration of the temple. According to the section 80, there were to be a board of trustees containing 5 members who would be appointed by the Madras state government and will be in charge of the administration of the TTD for a fixed period of 5 years. An executive officer would also be appointed under the new act, whose work would be to look after the properties of the TTD and its operations, record of estate, jewels, money and other funds that belonged to the TTD.
Also the EO would arrange for and record the income and payment of expenses and can also carry out duties beyond the budget given to discharge the duties by the board of trustees. Such an action could be taken if the pilgrim safety and service was concerned and the person would later on show responsibility and justification for the action as per the balaji temple info. The section of 85 of the TTD Act related to the use of finances for maintaining and operating the temples, hospitals, educational institutions, choultries, vertinerary hospitals and resthouses which were under the devasthanam’s control. Under this maintenance system, one would be required to look after the water supply, road and communications, sanitation, electiricty and lighting. With permissions from the state government, the TTD could also acquire property and land was also included under the act.
Training of priests and many other types of religious trainings were included under the act. In a way, the 1951 act about balaji temple gave the temple more power of controlling the activities and methods to utilize and manage the funds. Then onwards, The Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institution and Endowment Act of 1969 bypassed the 1951 act further where the sections from 85 to 91 were related to this part of TTD. Expansion of the board of trustees was done to 9 from previous 5. Certain communities had compulsory representation. The inclusive members had to be 3 from state assembly, one women member was mandatory and one person of the scheduled caste were to be included. The membership time was fixed at 3 years instead of 5. It would be the mandatory duty of the AP government to appoint the EO and Deputy EO.
The responsibilities that were laid down in the previous act were still functional but now the new act made for some more responsibilities related to balaji temple info. The major addition was about the promotion of study of Indian languages by the devasthanam, and the Sri Venkateswara University would be opened in Tirupati, and operate it alsong with the opening and operating of Hindu Dharma Prathishthanam. This Prathishthanam was opened with the objective of promotion and propagation of Dharma of Hinduism by teaching, research, literature creation and training. The act about balaji temple was considered to be superior due to two reasons. Minorities interest was included in the trustees board and broaden the scope of studies and religious activities and practices by the devasthanam. In 1979, the TTD act as further altered because the latest revision made people feel that the TTD was now on the same terms as the smaller temples.
The new act of 1979 defined the EO ranking and additional posts were created for financial advisor and that of the chief accounts officer. Also as per the balaji temple info, it broadened the aspects of Sri Venkateswara Sishatachara Vidya Samstha which was the later name for Hindu Dharma Prathishthanam. The AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments act 1987 further superseded the act of 1979. According to it, the trustees board was further expanded from 11 to 15 where the legislative and minority representation were kept intact. Two acts about balaji temple in this latest clause were about abolition of the rights of families of priests of the temples and have a share of the hundi collections. Gradually, through lots of controversial pressures, the Andhra Pradesh government removed these two controversial parameters from the previous act by an amendment in 2006 as per the balaji temple info.
