Tirumala, July 28, 2013: Black marketing of darshan tickets continues to flourish at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara. The sacred town which was once known for its probity, of late, has turned to be a safe haven for the con artistes and middlemen who carry out their unlawful dealings quite audaciously with no fear for the law of land.

Riding on the sentiments of the devotees, the darshan tickets are sold at skyrocketing prices, subject to the demand from the pilgrim fraternity. During days of heavy turnout, the agents enjoy a field day. The menace, which was rather on the verge of near eclipse a couple of years back with the then TTD management abolishing a couple of classifications in the darshan of the presiding deity such as AAD and Cellar entry tickets, has once again become rampant for reasons best known to the management.

It is not that the management has remained a mute spectator to the happenings atop the temple town. Sweeping changes were introduced from time to time (like computerising the request letters, making the identity cards mandatory) to contain the growing menace. But unfortunately, all the initiatives proved futile with the highly-connected agents calling the shots. There is an indiscriminate issuance of darshan tickets which is over 25,000 on an average every month. While a major chunk of 6,000 to 8,000 tickets are being recommended by the TTD Chairman’s office alone, the rest is done by the board cell formed to meet the requirements of the board of trustees.

It is believed that there is a seething resentment among the board of trustees who are patiently waiting for an opportune time to settle scores with the authorities for imposing cuts on their recommendations. According to sources, the discretionary quota system of the darshan tickets has turned out to be a bone of contention between the authorities and the member trustees.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 28, 2013.