Four 'non-Hindu' employees suspended by TTD for practicing Christianity

Hyderabad: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has suspended four employees after vigilance inquiries revealed they had been practicing Christianity, violating the organization's religious eligibility requirements. TTD manages the affairs of one of the world's richest Hindu temples in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh.

This follows an earlier suspension of another staff member on similar grounds. The four suspended employees are B Eliazar, Deputy Executive Engineer (Quality Control); S. Rosi, Staff Nurse at BIRRD Hospital; M. Premavati, Grade-1 Pharmacist at BIRRD Hospital; and Dr. G. Asuntha, who works at SV Ayurveda Pharmacy.

According to a suspension memo seen by DH, TTD's vigilance team found that Dr Asuntha, who served as Principal of a TTD-run Polytechnic College, had used her official phone number and email ID to watch Christian religious videos and related content. The memo stated this behavior was "inappropriate and misaligned with the responsibilities of her position and TTD organization's ethics."

During the suspension period, she will receive subsistence allowance at the rate of 50 per cent of her pay per month with corresponding allowances admissible as per rules until her restoration or finalization of disciplinary proceedings, whichever is earlier.

The suspensions are based on Rule 9(vi) of the TTD Employees Service Rules, 1989, established under Government Order Ms. No. 1060. This rule, inserted through G.O.Ms No. 1372 in 2007, specifies that only individuals professing the Hindu religion are eligible for recruitment into TTD service. The regulation mandates that employees must adhere to Hindu dharma and traditions while refraining from non-Hindu religious activities.

Officials determined that Dr. Asuntha exhibited gross misconduct in discharging her duties and violated Rule 3 (General) of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.

In another case, vigilance staff recorded video footage from the entrance of suspended employee Eliazar's house located at Satyanarayan Puram in Tirupati. The video showed the building named "Rachothi John Veletamma Nilayam" with a stone plaque reading "Bethesda."

"Further, on entering the house, many banners and photos of Bible quotes were hung on the walls. Bibles, Christianity-related books, and Christian propaganda materials were found, and Christian phrases were noticed on his vehicle. Thus, the action of the individual is unbecoming of an employee of TTD and constitutes a breach of trust, thereby exhibiting misconduct and violating Rule-3 (General) of APCS (Conduct) Rules 1964," said a senior TTD official.

Premavati was found to be attending Living Word Church in Puthalapattu, while Rosi was attending Mt. Carmel Church of the Nazarene in Sapthagiri Nagar, Tirupati.

"Good that TTD has finally woken up and started taking action on non-Hindus. We will continue to step up vigilance on non-Hindus employed by TTD. We wish the NDA government in the state also takes such action in other temples and removes all non-Hindu staff," said TTD Board member and BJP leader G Bhanuprakash Reddy, who has been working to remove non-Hindus from TTD.

In May, the TTD board decided to transfer non-Hindu employees working at various board-run institutions to other Andhra Pradesh government departments or offer them voluntary retirement schemes. According to 2021 TTD records, the board employed approximately 40 non-Hindu staff members across its institutions.