There is anger across the country regarding Tirupati Balaji Prasadam, this controversy has also raised questions in the minds of devotees about the quality of temple prasads in the country. Meanwhile, news is coming that in July 2023, instead of giving this contract to the government dairy company, the then government issued a tender, through which the contract was given to a private company. Although the temple administration repeatedly complained about the taste and quality of the laddu, then Chandrababu Naidu's government took cognizance of it and sent it for lab test.
Understand in a sequential manner how this incident happened?
In the lab test report, traces of fish oil, beef fat and animal tallow were found in the laddu. After which this matter has sparked a new debate in the country. In such a situation, let us understand how the government dairy company refused to supply ghee. It is about 2023 when the government dairy Karnataka Milk Federation refused to supply ghee at the price of Rs 320 and opted out of the tender, then the government issued a tender. Many companies participated in it, but in these tenders, 5 private companies were given the contract of supply. Out of these five companies, AR Dairy and Agro Foods, a Tamil Nadu company, gave a tender to supply ghee at Rs 320 per liter, its tender was accepted.
Then the tender was submitted on 12 March 2024. After this, the tender was honored on 8 May 2024 and the supply order was given on 15 May 2024. Then after 20 days, AR Dairy and Agro Foods Company started supplying ghee to Tirupati Balaji Temple. This company has supplied a total of 10 ghee tankers, out of which 6 were used.
How did the matter come to light?
When the government changed, complaints were received that the taste and quality of the laddu had deteriorated. After this, TTD formed an expert committee which asked to test the ghee of all the 5 suppliers. Internal irregularities were found in the sample of AR Dairy and Agro Food. After which the remaining 4 tankers were separated and the samples of 2 of these tankers were sent for testing to the lab of National Dairy Development Board of Gujarat on July 6 and the samples of the remaining 2 tankers were sent on July 12. The result that came from there surprised everyone.
Why did the person who had been supplying ghee to Tirupati Balaji for 50 years refuse to supply it? Who got the new contract?
'Whatever comes under the purview of law and our FSSAI…', said J.P. Nadda on Tirupati Prasadam controversy
Image Credit: India-Tv.