TTD does away with its Kalyanamastu programme

TIRUMALA: The state government has ratified the decision to scrap 'Kalyanamastu', the mass marriage programme of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. A senior off icial of TTD confirmed the government's decision and said it was taken by the TTD Specified Authority and not the present board of trustees. The specified authority, headed by J Satyanarayana with the then executive officer IYR Krishna Rao and Nagi Reddy felt the Kalyanamastu was turning out to be a white elephant for the TTD due to alleged mismanagement of the programme.
TTD has spent about Rs 4.5 crore on each edition on average. Since its launch in 2007, when B Karunakar Reddy was TTD chairman, there have been six Kalyanamastu programmes conducted and about 36,000 couples entered into wedlock. However, when the Specified Authority had inquired into alleged irregularities in the programme, it had found that accounts and bills produced for clearance were manipulated, making the Devasthanams lose money. It also found fault with district collectors for sending a scrap of paper as receipt for the amount sanctioned to them for the programme.The present administration has decided to replace Kalyanamastu with the Nitya Kalyanam.