The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board on Wednesday doubled the financial assistance to the temples across the State for the dhupa, deepa and naivedyam in accordance with State government norms. The financial assistane has been increased to ₹10,000 from ₹5,000.

TTD Chairman B.R. Naidu and Executive Officer M. Ravichandra told the media that the TTD Trust Board had approved ₹4.55 crore for additional sanitation facilities along the Sarva Darshan queue lines, and endorsed assigning of spiritual and mythologically significant names to roads and vital points in Tirumala.

In a major push for education, the Trust Board approved an additional ₹43.40 crore to develop modern infrastructure in the TTD-run educational institutions, taking the total allocation to ₹161.40 crore.

In an effort to check water wastage in Tirumala, the board cleared a ₹6-crore pipeline to be laid from Gogarbham Dam to the filtration plant. It also approved the procurement of silk fabrics and related material worth ₹44.20 crore from APCO and Co-optex.

Approving the proposal for extending a financial aid of ₹55 lakh for the Siva temple at Vardhanapalli village, the board decided to provide free kits to children under the ‘Akshara Govindam’ initiative aimed at promoting the Sanatana Dharma.

The board also accepted 19.43 acres of land in Tamil Nadu donated to the TTD and appointed required staff at the newly built Sri Venkateswara temple in Navi Mumbai ahead of its Maha Samprokshanam. The construction of a Sri Padmavati temple in Mumbai will be funded by board member Saurabh Bora.

Development works worth ₹3.61 crore at Varahaswamy Rest House, a ₹4.75-crore permanent yagashala at Alipiri, and the appointment of Padma Shri awardee Dr. Shobha Raju as Asthana Vidwan also got the TTD Trust Board’s nod.

Temple infrastructure received a major boost with the sanctioning of ₹2.71 crore for the construction of a Rajagopuram at Ananthavaram and ₹36.95 crore for a seven-storeyed Maha Rajagopuram and associated structures at the TTD temple in Amaravati.

The board also approved the proposal for a centralised administrative complex at Tirumala, a new Kalyana Mandapam at Lepakshi and the formation of a committee to define the donor privileges.

Besides approving the takeover of 20 acres in Khammam for a temple, the board decided to extend darshan and laddu privileges to contract and outsourcing staff, alongside enhancing employee health reimbursement by ₹2 lakh.

Further, the board approved ₹4.25 crore for setting up permanent bus-checking shelters at Alipiri and decided to distribute free hearing aids among 150 impaired children under its Shravanam project.