Tirumala Tirupathi Devastnam Trust Board (TTD) has taken a decision in a recent board meeting to cancel the quota of Special Entry Darshan (SED) Rs. 300 tickets allocated to the tourism packages and Road Transport Corporations (RTC) of the respective states for the devotees coming to see Lord Balaji. It has been revealed that these tickets were misused during the YSRCP regime and were sold at more than two to three times the actual price. It is reported that the demand from software engineers, employees and students was cashed in, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. The TTD Board of Trustees during the previous YSRCP government issued a huge number of Special Entry Darshan (SED) Rs. 300 tickets to the tourism packages and RTCs of various states including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
5400 SED tickets for various states
Earlier, 1000 SED tickets were given to APS RTC per day and another thousand tickets to the AP Tourism Department. A total of 5,400 tickets have been issued, including 350 for Telangana Tourism Department, 1,000 for Telangana RTC, 100 for Goa Tourism Department, 250 for Indian Railways, 100 for Indian Tourism Department, 500 for Karnataka Tourism Department, 1,000 for Tamil Nadu Tourism Department, and 100 for Puducherry Tourism Department. The previous TTD Board of Trustees announced that they are allocating tickets in this way to provide Balaji Darshan to devotees coming to Tirumala from the respective states and to develop the tourism departments of the respective states and increase revenue for public transport corporations.
Black marketing of SED tickets by the agents
SED tickets were provided to devotees through the tourism departments and RTC agents of the respective states. Taking advantage of this, some of the agents sold the tickets at higher rates. The agents who got the tickets from the tourism department and RTC put them up for sale on social media also. They sold Rs.300 tickets for Rs.1,500 to Rs.2,500 to those who wanted darshan tickets.
Coalition govt cancelled Rs.300 tickets
TDP-led coalition government has focused on the irregularities in the allotment of Rs.300 tickets. A special team under the leadership of TTD Vigilance Wing investigated many complaints. It was found that devotees were being cheated by the agents. So, newaly elected TTD Board of Trustees responded to the report and decided to cancel the Rs. 300 tickets allocated to RTCs and the Tourism Departments of various states, including both Telugu States.
