To ensure a consistent supply of premium-quality pulses for preparing ‘anna prasadams’ the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) on Thursday held consultations with pulse millers from across the State, to strengthen quality standards for the free meals served to lakhs of pilgrims at its Nitya Annadanam complex daily.

The meeting, chaired by TTD Additional Executive Officer Ch. Venkaiah Chowdary at the Sudharma Conference Hall in the Padmavathi Guest House in Tirumala, focused on quality, quantity and procurement of pulses required for the temple kitchens.

Mr. Chowdary said that the TTD uses seven varieties of pulses, including Bengal gram, de-husked black gram, whole black gram, red gram, green gram and groundnuts, in the preparation of its daily Anna Prasadam. “The temple body has successfully sourced rice through the Rice Millers’ association without compromising on quality over the past several years,” he said and urged the pulse millers to maintain similar standards while ensuring timely supplies to meet the requirements of the institution. 

Representatives of the pulse milling industry assured the Additional Executive Officer that would supply high-quality pulses on a sustained basis, as it was a service to millions of devotees.

The Addl EO also directed officials to review the existing procurement system for pulses and explore measures to further enhance transparency and efficiency in the purchasing process.

The meeting was attended by Dy. EO (Anna Prasadam) Rajendra, Dy. EO (Warehousing) Padmavathi, general manager (Procurement) G. Umashankar and representatives of various pulse mills.