“Of late, the quality and taste of prasadams such as pongal, sweet pongal and puliyodarai, served to devotees at Tirupati, has deteriorated and steps will be taken up to improve the situation,” newly-nominated trustee of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) N. Kanniah said here on Monday.
He also said he would appeal to the TTD board to offer quality food to devotees who are forced to wait for more than 10 hours at the waiting halls before darshan.
Pointing out that a large number of people from Tamil Nadu rush to Tirumala, he said their problems would be periodically addressed to the TTD board seeking solutions.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr Kanniah said to help padayatra pilgrims from Chennai, there was a need for choultries every 20-30 kilometres.
On a daily basis, around 70,000-80,000 pilgrims visit Tirumala and during the weekends, the number crosses the 1-lakh mark; but there was no adequate accommodation, he said.
Particularly, lower- and middle-class devotees find it difficult to get accommodation in Tirupati and there was a need for about 10,000 free cottages, he said.
In a recent letter to Mr Subbirami Reddy, chairman, board of trustees, TTD, a charter of points that would benefit the pilgrims had been made.
The other demands include provision of electrically-operated vehicles for physically challenged persons and providing direct darshan for devotees with children aged up to two years.
He also said coffee and tea sold along the footpath from Tirupati to Tirumala were of substandard quality.
Reservation through Internet is helping only the middle and upper class, he pointed out. A new method should be evolved for common people and illiterate also to go in for reservation.
The SVC channel of TTD broadcasts all events only in Telugu. In future, events should be telecast in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.
As during heavy rush devotees are pushed, a new method should be evolved. All these points will be raised in the ensuing board meeting, Mr Kanniah added.